Teamwork and collaboration

Collaboration is fundamental to good practice, and working in a team does not change the practitioner's personal accountability. In team or collaborative work, good practice means the practitioner: (a) understands their own and others' roles and meets the responsibilities of their role; (b) advocates for clearly set roles and responsibilities, including a recognised leader or coordinator of the team, even where care crosses professions and models; (c) communicates effectively with team members to support continuity; (d) explains to patients what each team member does and who is ultimately responsible for coordinating their care; (e) is a positive role model; and (f) supports students, supervisees and others in the team.

• Team role descriptions or care coordination protocol naming the coordinating practitioner
• Multidisciplinary meeting notes or case conference records
• Patient information or notes showing who coordinates the patient's care

• No named coordinator in shared care
• Patients unclear who is responsible for their overall care