Inter-professional communications

IT’S time to embed interprofessional communication into the education of pharmacy students to improve the patient journey and optimise the outcomes from medicines, Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) past president Professor Debra Rowett said during her speech at this year’s Emeritus Professor Lloyd Sansom, AO Distinguished Lecture Series in Canberra last month.

Rowett said health systems around the world are changing to address a number of existing challenges in providing effective, timely, value-based care now and into the future, with team-based care a key component.

“The increasing array of diagnostic tests, complexity of illnesses, multimorbidity, interventions and care options combined with the number of health carers and organisations involved can make it difficult for patients and providers of care to negotiate the health care system,” Rowett said.

“The longitudinal care required for an ageing population and those living with chronic disease requires consideration of effective oral and technical communication between health care team members, their patients and their carers and families,” she argued.

“Successful inter-professional communication cannot be left to chance.

“It is a skill that needs to have the same amount of investment as that of the effort we put into communication with our patients.”