Salutare One Referral Software Impact on Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) Meetings Effectiveness and Safety

Overview

Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) meetings are crucial for planning patient care in the National Health Service (NHS), but they can be time-consuming and sometimes lack complete patient information. This can lead to delays in treatment decisions, potentially incomplete care plans, or the need to repeatedly discuss the same patient cases. This study aims to test a new software called Salutare One Referral. One Referral is designed to make these meetings more efficient and effective. We want to see if this software can help healthcare staff prepare MDT referral information more easily and facilitate a more informed MDT discussion, which could lead to better patient care. If successful, this could help improve how MDTs operate across the NHS.

This study aims to evaluate the safety, implementation effectiveness and feasibility of the Salutare One Referral software, a new tool designed to enhance Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) meetings. MDT meetings are recognized as the preferred means of delivering complex care for both chronic and acute diseases. However, there remains significant diversity in the purpose, structure, processes, and content of MDT meetings, as well as in how effectively they have been integrated into clinical practice. Common issues observed in MDTs include: * Deferring discussions due to incomplete medical history * Re-discussing the same cases due to inadequate recording of previous discussions * Failure to systematically manage cases to meet local and national targets The Salutare One Referral software is designed to address these challenges by streamlining the referral process, improving information sharing, and enhancing decision-making processes in MDT meetings. By potentially enhancing MDT efficiency, this study could lead to faster and better-coordinated patient care, reducing delays in treatment planning and implementation. Study Design: This is a "before and after" study, observing MDT operations without the software, then with the software, followed by another period without it. MDT members will use the Salutare One Referral software during their regular meetings and complete questionnaires about their experience. The study will also analyse pseudonymized patient data to assess any changes in MDT review effectiveness. If successful, this study could lead to more efficient and effective MDT meetings, potentially resulting in improved patient care coordination across the NHS.