Knowing the team around your patient

Abstract

There are many different professionals who all contribute to the health and support of patients. Understanding each one's different specialty is important, so that support workers know who the patient needs to be involved in their care—and when. The Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England ( Skills for Care and Skills for Health, 2013 ) identifies that working in collaboration with colleagues is an important part of the support worker's role. Within section three and four it highlights three key areas: support workers must ‘recognise and respect the roles and expertise of your colleagues both in the team and from other agencies and disciplines, and work in partnership with them’; ‘work openly and cooperatively with colleagues, including those from other disciplines and agencies, and treat them with respect’; and ‘communicate effectively and consult with your colleagues as appropriate’. These three keys areas of partnership working, respect and communication will be explored and discussed in this article.