Interdisciplinary working within urgent community response and intermediate care services: a scoping review

Background and Aim: Urgent Community Response (UCR) Services are central to the NHS strategy of moving care into the community to reduce hospital admissions. As part of intermediate care (IC), UCR teams rely on interdisciplinary (ID) working. However, there is limited understanding of how healthcare professionals (HCPs), particularly nurses, experience and undertake this collaboration. This scoping review explores the available evidence on HCPs’ experiences within ID UCR teams. Methods: A scoping review guided by the PRISMA-ScR framework was conducted. Databases searched included CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Open Grey, covering studies from 1999 to 2025. Findings: 42 sources were included, mostly UK-based. Key themes identified include role flexibility, shared decision-making, and flatter hierarchies. Nurses and support workers were well represented; whilst paramedics were underrepresented. Facilitators included joint visits and shared records; barriers included unclear roles and limited ID training. Conclusions: It appears that effective ID working underpins UCR success. Further research is needed to understand workforce experiences, especially of collaborative models and emerging roles.