Materials and methods
The study took a mini-ethnographic approach to collect information on the nature of inter-professional collaboration in a large private hospital and the complexities therein. The sample hospital is a 750-bedded multispecialty facility centre situated in the metro-city of Kolkata (India). It is a nationally reputed institute with branches all over India, and accredited by the Joint Commission International for Patient Safety and Security. Data was collected from June, 2016 to Februray,2017. The researchers studied MDTs that were constituted for terminally ill, geriatric patients during the study period.
Primary data was collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with physicians, nurses, representative members from hospital administration and other staff. A total forty physicians, twenty nurses and ten members from hospital management participated (refer to Table 1: General information about the respondents ). Research participation was restricted within professionals, who were part of the sample MDTs. Besides first-hand data collection, thirty-five case reports were retrospectively reviewed to understand the quality ‘eolc’ provided to deceased patients. Triage pattern, treatment trajectories, team coordination during care transfers and role of patients’ families were given special emphasis. Additionally, overall observation of the hospital procedures also provided valuable insights about MDTs.
The study complied with basic ethical principles laid down by the Indian Council for Medical Research19 and the Declaration of Helinsky20 regarding obtaining informed consent from the respondents, maintaining confidentiality of data, and presenting cases anonymously. Respondents were adequately informed of the aims, methods, sources of funding, any possible conflicts of interest, institutional affiliation of the researcher, anticipated benefits and potential risks of the study before signing the consent form. Researchers also sought and received ethical clearance from the concerned hospital authorities to gain access inside the premise.