Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40682520›Full record

ArticleJournal of health services research & policy2025

Frontline staff perspectives on multi-disciplinary team working and the effectiveness of integrated service delivery: Findings from the evaluation of the Integrated Care and Support Pioneers in England.

Lavanya Thana, Gerald Wistow, Mary Alison Durand, Agata Pacho, Lucia Rehackova, Nick Douglas, Mustafa Al-Haboubi, Nicholas Mays

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of health services research & policy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Lavanya ThanaResearch Fellow, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit (PIRU), Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8343-5549
Gerald WistowProfessor in Social Policy and Honorary Professor, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit (PIRU), Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Mary Alison DurandAssociate Professor, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit (PIRU), Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-2205-4002
Agata PachoResearch Fellow, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit (PIRU), Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-0653-5095
Lucia RehackovaResearch Fellow, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit (PIRU), Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-4099-7899
Nick DouglasResearch Fellow, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit (PIRU), Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Mustafa Al-HaboubiAssociate Professor, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit (PIRU), Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9847-2206
Nicholas MaysProfessor of Health Policy and Director, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit (PIRU), Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9808-8466

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

ObjectivesHorizontal integration of health and social care in England is frequently supported by multi-disciplinary (MDT) case management focused on high-risk older people with multiple chronic conditions living in the community. This paper analyses MDT working in two of the 25 areas participating in the Integrated Care and Support Pioneer Programme in England. The analysis aims to understand the experience of frontline staff in such MDTs of working with professionals and staff from multiple sectors, and their perceptions of their roles and the benefits of integrated working.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 54 frontline staff from a range of professional backgrounds working in 11 community-based MDTs in two Integrated Care and Support Pioneers. A largely inductively developed coding frame was used to thematically code and guide analysis of verbatim interview transcripts from audio recordings.FindingsStaff conceptualised the team as a cohesive yet 'porous' entity, able to evolve a shared sense of purpose to deliver holistic care that helped to level traditional professional hierarchies, enable collective problem-solving and share responsibility for patient care. MDT working was seen as benefiting staff and patients. Despite strong similarities between the MDTs in members' understandings of the role and purpose of a MDT, each MDT was adapted to its context and the needs of the population served. The process of working through inter-professional tensions seemed to strengthen relationships within the team and enhance its ability to work effectively in the local health and care system. However, without performance or outcome measures, these perceptions were driven by 'soft' intelligence alone.ConclusionsFrontline staff accounts of MDT working demonstrate their strong commitment to this way of working, as a mechanism enabling them to deliver more holistic care with perceived benefits to patients.

Indexed as

Attitude of Health PersonnelCase ManagementDelivery of Health Care, IntegratedPatient Care TeamEnglandFemaleHumansInterviews as TopicMaleQualitative ResearchState Medicinefrontline staff perspectiveshorizontal integrationperson-centred care

Identifiers

PMID40682520
PMCPMC12423457

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.