Implementing the Primary Care Multidisciplinary Model in Newry and District GP Federation

In 2018, the DOH NI announced the Multi -Disciplinary Teams in Primary Care (MDT’s) initiative as part of a £15m transformation fund allocation to primary care. The Southern Health & Social Care Trust (SHSCT), in partnership with the Newry and District Federation of GP Practices, were one of the early implementers of MDT’s in NI. The MDT project commenced implementation early 2020 just when the Covid19 pandemic was emerging. This was an incredibly challenging time with the need for GPs to adapt to a quickly changing situation and reconfigure the delivery of services but despite this, the MDT project team kept a focus to ensure patients had access to high quality MDT services. MDTs bring together the expertise and skills of professionals such as First Contact Physiotherapists, Social Workers and Mental Health Practitioners with an enhanced service to District Nursing and Health Visiting. MDTs provide a platform for improved collaborative working focusing on: oClose working relationship with Clinical Services oCollaborative working - MDT and GP staff oEnhanced primary/secondary care partnership working oWorking and developing regional / national networks oTraining and development for MDT roles oImproved relationships with community/voluntary sector oCommunity profiling to explore population health needs Patient involvement and feedback is crucial for ongoing evaluation of Primary Care MDTs. Patient feedback has been captured both locally and regionally and a series of patient stories told through video animation have been co-produced. The nursing aspect of the MDT team use the Care Opinion platform to capture patient experience. Progress so far (2022/2023) : MDT staffing model in 24 practices out of 29 (139,500 patients with direct access to MDTs out of total population of 160,615) 25 community development initiatives Investment of £ 2,608,124 Improved Access to Primary Care Services Over 6,000 patients accessed MDT FCP Service Over 4,400 patients accessed the MDT MH Service Over 2,000 patients have accessed the MDT SW Service 66% patients no onward referral to secondary care 32,000 Patient Contacts 96.0% of patients who accessed MDT FCP Service in year were managed within primary and community care with only 4% referred to secondary care 91.6% of patients who accessed MDT MH Service in year were managed within primary and community care with only 8.4% referred to secondary care 89.8% of patients who accessed MDT SW Service in year were managed within primary and community care with only 10.2% referred to secondary care Health visiting caseloads have been reduced by up to 27% for 0-4 years Alignment with GP and other MDT colleagues allows MDT District nurses to quickly and easily communicate patient needs and develop excellent working relationships. Data quality issues are a considerable barrier to understanding the true impact of MDTs; there is lack of regional standardisation and fragmented systems especially in community data infrastructure. The learning will inform the next steps for the wider roll out of MDTs across the SHSCT and Southern Federation.