Collaborative practice

Question 1

Components of a healthcare system

Answer 1

• Structure: How the system is organised
• Functions: What functions does the system want to achieve?
• Target population: Who does the system provide care for?
• Personnel (Workforce): Who works in the system
• Funding: How is the system funded
• Reimbursement: How are health professionals paid

Question 2

What is the NHS constitution?

Answer 2

• The NHS provides a COMPREHENSIVE SERVICE, AVAILABLE to ALL
• Access to NHS services is based on CLINICAL NEED, not an individual’s ability to pay
• The NHS aspires to the highest standards of EXCELLENCE AND PROFESSIONALISM
• The PATIENT WILL BE AT THE HEART of everything the NHS does
• The NHS works ACROSS ORGANISATIONAL BOUNDARIES
• The NHS is committed to providing BEST VALUE FOR TAXPAYERS’ MONEY
• The NHS is ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PUBLIC, COMMUNITIES AND PATIENTS that it serves

Question 3

Structure of a health care system?

Answer 3

• Primary care
• Local health care that people receive from GPs, dentists, community pharmacists and optometrists
• Secondary care
• Consultant-led services usually delivered in hospitals, where patients have been referred by a primary care professionals (exception being emergency care)
• Tertiary care
• Consultant-led health care, usually for inpatients referred by primary or secondary health professionals, in a facility that has advanced staff and facilities

Question 4

Factors that influence healthcare systems

Answer 4

Political
Economic
Social
Technological

Question 5

Definition of collaborative practice?

Answer 5

Dynamic process when “multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds work together with patients, families, carers and communities to deliver the highest quality care”

Question 6

Definition of inter-professional practice (IPE)?

Answer 6

Provides an ability to share knowledge and skills among professions and is conducive to better understanding, shared values and respect for the roles of other health professionals.

Question 7

Importance of collaborative working?

Answer 7

• Globally and nationally have inequalities in general and oral health
• Burden of chronic diseases
• Burden of infectious diseases
• Environmental and behavioural risks against a rapid demographic and epidemiological transitions
• Health care systems are struggling to keep populations healthy as they become more complex and costly
• Huge demand on health workers to promote health

Question 8

Why use collaborative working for health?

Answer 8

• Common risk factor approach- common health risks posed to oral health and systemic health
• e.g. smoking is associated with periodontal diseases, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and cancers
• Impact of oral health on health related quality of life and wider impacts
• Poor oral health has been shown to result in decreased academic performance and can adversely affect behavioural and social development (Jackson et al al. 2011)

Question 9

Dental team’s roles in collaborative practice

Answer 9

• Dentists are the front-line medical professionals in the prevention, early detection and treatment of oral and systemic diseases. They should therefore play a leadership role to improve oral health and general health
• CP increases efficiency and quality in relation to service delivery
• CP improves access and quality
• CP reduces costs by avoiding duplication of efforts
• CP improves mutual trust and accountability among providers and results in better coordinated care