Teamwork In Health And Social Care Essay
Teamworking
In a care oriented environment, to achieve any worthwhile results, one must work as part of a team. Great practice is a fine thing but unless it is part of a communicative, dynamic team then it falls down as soon as the practitioner finishes their shift. As Adrian Ward in 1993 puts it “Teamwork should never be regarded as an optional extra in this sort of work, it is the heart of the matter.” Good teamwork starts with the organisational culture. In my place of work there is a fairly straight forward organisation with a simple hierarchical makeup. A chain of command runs from the directors, via the manager and deputy manager to the qualified nursing staff and then to senior carers and carers. There are offshoots to this in the form of a residents committee which includes residents and relatives. Also, there are the cleaning, laundry and kitchen staff who are off to one side to make up the care team. This works well under most conditions and usually it is the qualified …show more content…
This is helpful as often a goal will involve input from more than one agency or team. In addition, collaboration is an excellent way to improve standards and drive down costs. This philosophy is very clearly voiced in the 1998 white paper, Modernising Social Services, which said that people do not fit into neat service categories, and if partner agencies are not working together it is the user who suffers.Whether it is interprofesional or inter-agency collaboration, there is a clearly recognised premium for the service user both in quality of care and in outcomes when good practise is followed by all teams involved. Also there is a bonus in that it does make for a nicer working environment and that is always helpful when trying to achieve
In a care oriented environment, to achieve any worthwhile results, one must work as part of a team. Great practice is a fine thing but unless it is part of a communicative, dynamic team then it falls down as soon as the practitioner finishes their shift. As Adrian Ward in 1993 puts it “Teamwork should never be regarded as an optional extra in this sort of work, it is the heart of the matter.” Good teamwork starts with the organisational culture. In my place of work there is a fairly straight forward organisation with a simple hierarchical makeup. A chain of command runs from the directors, via the manager and deputy manager to the qualified nursing staff and then to senior carers and carers. There are offshoots to this in the form of a residents committee which includes residents and relatives. Also, there are the cleaning, laundry and kitchen staff who are off to one side to make up the care team. This works well under most conditions and usually it is the qualified …show more content…
This is helpful as often a goal will involve input from more than one agency or team. In addition, collaboration is an excellent way to improve standards and drive down costs. This philosophy is very clearly voiced in the 1998 white paper, Modernising Social Services, which said that people do not fit into neat service categories, and if partner agencies are not working together it is the user who suffers.Whether it is interprofesional or inter-agency collaboration, there is a clearly recognised premium for the service user both in quality of care and in outcomes when good practise is followed by all teams involved. Also there is a bonus in that it does make for a nicer working environment and that is always helpful when trying to achieve