In her latest blog about our commitment to joint working with partners across the Tees Valley and beyond, our chief executive explains the importance of a special community service in Hartlepool:
Our NHS is populated with numerous acronyms, our very name being one of the most famous in the world. For me, and many of my colleagues – one of the most important acronyms within our sector is MDT (Multi-Disciplinary Team).
The NHS will own this concept as their own, and on the whole it is predominantly used within the health and care sector – reflecting how we organise our teams and services to best reflect the needs of our patients. It can be an eclectic mix of disciplines – therapists and surgeons with nurses and psychologists and many more beyond – primary and secondary care and other key agencies that support patient care.
I am especially proud of the Integrated Single Point of Access (ISPA) model we have at both University Hospital of Hartlepool (its original home) and now our offer for Stockton hospital.
This collaboration of colleagues from both the Trust and Hartlepool Borough Council, based at University Hospital of Hartlepool make accessing health and social care for adults in the community an easier journey than ever before. By having the right people, in the right place at the right time – the care, support and rehabilitation offered to patients is co-ordinated and delivered by a truly multi-disciplinary team. An MDT.
Working in isolation in the health and care sector is not an option if we are to support levelling up for our population. It takes a range of professionals to build better, to ensure the right pathways and the right workforce is available to reflect the needs of the Tees Valley and surrounding areas.
Health and care alone will not achieve this, and I continue to raise the hopes of a truly integrated collaborative Teesside, alongside education, housing, politics and the economy. Additionally working with colleagues in primary care continues to be crucial, as well as our long established partnership joint work with colleagues at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The power of dedicated multi-disciplinary teams can be far reaching, and we continue to dedicate to these partnerships at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust not only our patients, but our workforce too.
Julie Gillon
Chief Executive
