PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - R Fielding
AU  - J Kause
AU  - V Arnell-Cullen
AU  - D Sandeman
TI  - The impact of consultant-delivered multidisciplinary inpatient medical care on patient outcomes
AID  - 10.7861/clinmedicine.13-4-344
DP  - 2013 Aug 01
TA  - Clinical Medicine
PG  - 344--348
VI  - 13
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/13/4/344.short
4100  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/13/4/344.full
SO  - Clin Med2013 Aug 01; 13
AB  - Consultant-delivered care has been shown to improve outcomes for acute medical patients. However, the ideal composition of a medical team to support consultant-delivered care is not clear and little is known about the effect of continuing consultant-delivered care until the patient is discharged. Between December 2011 and April 2012, 260 general medical patients requiring inpatient care were managed by a consultant-delivered multidisciplinary team (CD-MDT) and 150 patients by a standard consultant-led team of trainee doctors. The length of hospital stay was significantly lower for patients managed by a CD-MDT than for those managed by a standard team (4–5 days vs 7 days, p<0.001). No difference between the groups was seen for readmission rates, patient safety or mortality. In conclusion, a CD-MDT is a safe and effective model of inpatient medical care and is associated with a shorter length of hospital stay.