Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Our journals
    • Clinical Medicine
    • Future Healthcare Journal
  • Subject collections
  • About the RCP
  • Contact us

Clinical Medicine Journal

  • ClinMed Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
  • Author guidance
    • Instructions for authors
    • Submit online
  • About ClinMed
    • Scope
    • Editorial board
    • Policies
    • Information for reviewers
    • Advertising

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
RCP Journals
Home
  • Log in
  • Home
  • Our journals
    • Clinical Medicine
    • Future Healthcare Journal
  • Subject collections
  • About the RCP
  • Contact us
Advanced

Clinical Medicine Journal

clinmedicine Logo
  • ClinMed Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
  • Author guidance
    • Instructions for authors
    • Submit online
  • About ClinMed
    • Scope
    • Editorial board
    • Policies
    • Information for reviewers
    • Advertising

Teams without Walls

Robert Allan
Download PDF
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmedicine.9-1-4
Clin Med February 2009
Robert Allan
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
Loading

Change has been such an integral part of the NHS for so long that identifying elements that have remained unaffected over time is rare. One such event might be the early separation of medical training for general practice and hospital medicine. This has led to two rather separate groups of doctors being responsible for the same patients. In the current era of ‘patient-centred’ care there has been much debate about how care might be improved if these two strands were better integrated. The government's intention is to provide care closer to home and, wherever possible, outside hospital. From the patient's perspective this is an attractive option but it must of course be safe, of high quality and cost effective when compared to current treatment models.

Some excellent examples of this practice already exist. Early intervention services have been introduced for the treatment of first episodes of acute psychosis in young adults where treatment and support is provided either at home or in the community. The outcome for patients in terms of remission and return to work or training are better than those achieved by traditional inpatient treatment. The increased costs of personalised expert care outside the hospital setting are more than offset by the reduction in costs by the minimal use of inpatient care. The ‘customer satisfaction rating’ is also high.

How far this model is capable of generalisation has been the subject of much debate. In this issue Rodney Burnham and Jonathan Steel summarise the outcome of a King's Fund conference on this topic held in June 2008 (pp 74–5). This was a joint venture between the Royal Colleges of Physicians, General Practitioners, and Paediatrics and Child Health. At its heart the conference discussed a major initiative from all three colleges, the report of a Working Party, endorsed by the NHS Alliance, entitled Teams without Walls.1 The report explores integrated models of care which cross the traditional primary and secondary care boundaries but which also include high-quality, safe and cost-effective care as an essential prerequisite. Many examples of interface working are quoted where practical implementation has proved effective. Much has been achieved and much remains to be done but the direction of travel is set. It will become clearer with time what can and what cannot be changed in the delivery of care closer to home.

  • © 2009 Royal College of Physicians

Reference

  1. ↵
    Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Teams without Walls: the value of medical innovation and leadership. London: Royal College of Physicians, 2008.
Back to top
Previous articleNext article

Article Tools

Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation Tools
Teams without Walls
Robert Allan
Clinical Medicine Feb 2009, 9 (1) 4; DOI: 10.7861/clinmedicine.9-1-4

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Teams without Walls
Robert Allan
Clinical Medicine Feb 2009, 9 (1) 4; DOI: 10.7861/clinmedicine.9-1-4
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Reference
  • Info & Metrics

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • The past, the present, and the future: reflecting on ­medical history as we welcome new leaders
  • Targeting limited NHS resources to affect optimal care
  • Regulation needs new legislation to get lighter
Show more Editorials

Similar Articles

Navigate this Journal

  • Journal Home
  • Current Issue
  • Ahead of Print
  • Archive

Related Links

  • ClinMed - Home
  • FHJ - Home
clinmedicine Footer Logo
  • Home
  • Journals
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
HighWire Press, Inc.

Follow Us:

  • Follow HighWire Origins on Twitter
  • Visit HighWire Origins on Facebook

Copyright © 2021 by the Royal College of Physicians