Communication and Collaboration in Healthcare: Supporting Service-User Groups with Learning Disabilities - NHS Case Study

This essay discusses the significance of communication and collaboration in managing the professional environment in the healthcare sector, with a focus on supporting service-user groups with learning disabilities. The case study of the National Health Trust (NHS) in England is used to illustrate the importance of multi-agency working, collaborative teamwork, and effective communication.

Communication and
Collaboration in
managing the
Professional
Environment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Multi-agency working and its working on well-being of service-users in the context of
patient-centred care................................................................................................................3
Exploration of how to work collaboratively and as an effective team member when working
in teams to support chosen service users................................................................................5
Discussion on how practitioners should ensure that effective communication occurs when
working with chosen service users.........................................................................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................9
Reflection on a critical incident in work setting where there has been demonstration of the
ability to transfer good practice to others. Consider how this good practice might support
service users that have identified............................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
This essay states the significance of the communication as well as collaborative working
within the healthcare sector. The process of communication and collaboration in the process of
managing the professional environment is a crucial prospect of working that expresses the roles
and responsibilities of the multi-agency working in a health care setting. The chosen entity for
this essay is Nation Health Trust (NHS) which is a publicly financed healthcare system in
England, UK and is considered as one of the four National Health Service Systems within the
United Kingdom. This essay is based on two main tasks in which the first task includes three
main sections and the second task is about reflection on critical incident in workplace where
transfer of good practices to others have been demonstrated (Al-Samarraie and Saeed, 2018).
The first section of first task covers concept and understanding of multi-agency working and
ways through which this concept can support individuals with learning disabilities. The second
section of this essay includes significance of collaborative working when supporting individuals
with learning disabilities along with ways of becoming an effective team member. The third
section of this first task covers the ways through which care workers can support individuals
with learning disabilities and their families using effective communication and collaboration.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
Multi-agency working and its working on well-being of service-users in the context of patient-
centred care
The aspect of multi-agency working is considered as a working relationship where
distinct branches of the health profession like doctors, health visitors, nurses, social workers, mid
wife's theatre staff and many more are working together for attaining expected results. This kind
of working is a successful and effective approach to support people with the extra needs and
secure the improvements within life (Badri, Boudreau-Trudel and Souissi, 2018). This helps in
providing broader perspective along with concentrating on the practices of working. This results
in contributing preventative addition to the early intervention services for the purpose of
addressing some of the specific cross cutting threat factors that lead to weak results for the
service user group. Multi-agency working is considered as a dominant feature of emerging policy
as well as practice throughout the multiple range of social care settings. While such kind of

challenging practice places considerable needs at both the levels of policy and practice. When it
gets delivered in an effective manner then, it can be frustrating and disempowering. Such type of
stimulating introductory text states the challenges as well as opportunities for the social-work
practice and education in reference to multi-agency working. NHS performs multi-agency
working that brings together practitioners from the varied sectors in order to give insights for
supporting children as well as adults with profound learning disability. Working in collaboration
needs self-awareness, trust as well as tolerance among professionals and employees for
coordinating efforts to deliver needed services which accomplish the needs of special user
groups.
Multi-agency working assists well-being of service-user groups and staffs by conducting
effective communication and giving seamless responses for putting processes to make the
delivery services easy for fulfilling varied requirements (Barnes and Todd, 2021). In terms of
service-user groups, such as children and adults with learning disabilities, the concept of multi-
agency working assists through promoting favourable relationship among professionals as well
as service-user groups based on the trust in addition to shared accountability. For instance, NHS
supports well-being of people with adverse needs through maintaining relationship with them for
understanding kind of care and providing them timely with responsibility to help them in
accomplishing requirements. For children and adults with learning disability promotes
relationship support for improving life as well as prevent them from going into residential cares
as adults. Service-user group especially adults and children having learning disabilities are
assisted through multi-agency working through being advocate for them. For instance,
professionals of NHS encompass role as proactive parent in addition to communicate with
others on behalf of service-user group. In such way, practitioners of NHS approach to learning
challenges with hard-work, sense of optimism and humour which are encompassed through
service-user group for executing identical actions. In relation to employees of NHS, well-being is
supported through allowing staff an element of flexible working hours, decision-making and
practices. Not only physical well-being is required for a staff but also assisting mental well-being
is essential within workplace (Driskell, Salas and Driskell, 2018). The aspect of multi-agency
working helps in mental well-being of employees through recognising addition for the purpose
of praising a part of workplace culture. Employee identification is also considered as one of the
major well-being action that is undertaken by managers of NHS to identify and praise employee

efforts and achievements that creates them feeling emotionally interacted with organisation and
peers which make favourable working environment. The employees who are engaged in multi-
agency working are encouraged to identify whether there is enhancement in frequency along
with well-being of all or not.
Practicing mindfulness is referred to an approach for supporting well-being of employees and it
is all about paying attention to present moment to accept non-judgemental perspectives. Within
NHS, mindfulness fosters well-being of human resources. Multi-agency working plays a
significant role in assisting employees well-being through investing in affordable staff well-
being program (Konttila and et.al., 2019). Continuous learning is another way which not only
enhance knowledge and skills set among employees, but also makes staff more collaborative,
competitive and boost engagement with work for delivering health and social care to service-user
group with learning disability.
Exploration of how to work collaboratively and as an effective team member when working in
teams to support chosen service users
The aspect of collaborative work is considered as an act of two or more people or
businesses that are working together for a specific purpose. Collaborative working within a team
helps in engaging the group for the purpose of combining the expertise as well as solving
problems altogether while also assigning the task of an individual along with roles for autonomy.
Collaborative work facilitates in improving the way in which a team works together and solves
the problem. This results in more innovation, enhanced success, efficient processes as well as
improved communication. At NHS, the process of collaborative work gives multiple
opportunities for providing unique integrated care services to the service-user group with
different learning disabilities. This also evolves more stronger cohesive voice, creates knowledge
sharing besidesuseful information among the manpower. In order to assist service-user group, the
perspective of collaborative working is crucial because it helps in increasing innovation and
creativity with the aspects (Labanauskaitė, Fiore and Stašys, 2020). While assisting children and
adults with learning disabilities, NHS promotes collaborative working because two or more
heads are effective instead of a single head. Varying views together with personalities develop a
changing working environmeht which promotes udeas and innovation insights among the human
resources for providing best services. Collaborative working is also essential for supporting
service-user group because companionship brings enhanced productivity as well as engagement.

In relation to NHS, when the members of a team start conducting operations altogether the,
undoubtedly they generate a sense of companionship. It doesn't matter how people differ as
common objectives unite a well-organised team and promote a sympathy for engaging within
strategies for accomplishing requirements as well as wants of service-user group. This increases
involvement level which brings improvements in productivity. Team members identify
themselves more encouraged by other people and by environment that is developed for them
because they acquire a headway with allotted tasks in collaboration (Molinillo and et.al., 2018).
In such way, productivity of a person and team as a whole gets improved for providing better
care to support adults and children with learning disabilities.
The process of collaborative working crucially brings effective communication with
stakeholders for accomplishing their requirements. In context to NHS, major stakeholders
include service-user group which are adults and children with varied learning disabilities.
Communication becomes easy when members of an organisational team put heads together to
gain the understanding of requirements. This becomes accountability of experts to manage
collaborative working for tracking progress altogether with uncertainties in demand
accomplishment. Members of team play a major role in any of the project or can provide care to
service-user groups. In the aspect of NHS, there are certain ways through which a person act as
an effective team member and these ways are discussed as under:
 Supporting Colleagues: Team members can become effective when they support their
colleagues for attaining success in a quick and better way. Within NHS, supportive
members of team provide information to their colleagues about what they can do for
performing best in providing care to adults and children having learning disabilities (Oh
and Lee, 2020). This could be done through sharing constructive feedback or supporting
emotionally for improving their growth.
 Listening and Learning: Team members are significant for achieving success of team
and working effectively when heard appropriately. In relation to NHS, an individual
provides proper care to service-user group and has unique contribution which creates it
an effective team member. Additionally, listening to teammates appropriately for
understanding requirements, their feelings as well as thinking for care services creates
team members more successful. Ascertaining biases, reserving judgements and seeking

towards learning from members of team is significant to become a successful team
member.
 Holding Responsibility: Accountability or responsibility is basic among team members
and in context to NHS, they work effectively through taakig responsibilities of tasks
which are allotted to them and deliver effective outcomes. At time of delivering care to
service-user group, members of team become successful through taking accountability
for their working to attain deadline of suppoting people for solving complexities.
 Respectful and Positive: Throug developing trust, respect and care for others, a member
of team can become effective (Pan and Zhang, 2021). Favorable attitude of an individual
creates a person successful and better member of team. In aspect of NHS, creating trust,
enhance respect for team spirit, feeling of gratitude, charing important aspects for growth,
allowing spaces for vulnerability, etc. Are certain perspectives that create team members
more effective for delivering care to service-user group.
Discussion on how practitioners should ensure that effective communication occurs when
working with chosen service users
Service-user group has multiple requirements which are assisted by care workers through
the process of collaboration and communication in a successful way. In context to NHS, service-
user group are the adults and children having diverse learning disabilities. Persons with profound
learning disability has experienced problems that consist of conceptualising time, maintaining
self-care, recalling information, accompanying activities as well as maintaining everyday life. In
such aspect, care worker can assist those people who have learning disabilities through
residential establishments, regular supervision along with working with other experts who belong
to health sector for maximising well-being. There are some of the requirements and approaches
that should be ensured by practitioners that effective communication occurs when working with
the service-user group (Sherwood and et.al., 2022). These approaches can support service-user
group and family with communication and collaboration in such manner:
 Maintaining self-care along with accompanying activities: Those people who have
learning disabilities faces complexities on frequent basis regarding maintaining self-care
along with performing everyday tasks. Adults and children with prospective learning
disabilities are required to maintain self-care as well as conducting everyday operations
like washing, cooking, sleeping, walking and others for accomplishing the requirements.

Care worker of NHS can assist with residential home service in which care worker could
give supported and safe place for adults and children having learning disabilities.
Furthermore, it will become easy for the care worker to support service-user group
through residential home service such as personal care like washing, toileting,
administering medication and many more. Care worker collaborate with health experts
timely and communicate real health status of the service-user as well as family in a
effective and efficient manner.
 Assessing health services: This is one of the major requirement of service-user group as
well as family who are facing learning disabilities (Stone, Cox and Gavin, 2020). It
becomes often confusing for the family of an adult or a children having learning
disabilities to understand the ways for accessing to infinite health service. Such kind of
service-user group requires to assess health services in a very prompt manner. For
supporting people with requirement of assessing health service, care worker of NHS can
assist by making appointment with professionals or experts and communicating all
information. Furthermore, yearly health check can do a top to toe assess for health care
through engaging health experts collaboratively and enabling overall imagination for
communicating health status together with ways for planning to deliver care to the
learning disabilities.
 Recalling information: Those people who have learning disabilities faces the
complexities for recalling information. In context to NHS, the care worker can assist
service-user group through adopting aspect of mnemonics which is a sort of learning
strategy through which adults and children having learning disabilities can be facilitated
with concerned familiar words, rhyming words, songs with terms at time when they
struggle to remember (Ueda and et.al., 2020). In addition to it, care worker can also assist
service-user group as well as families through communicating and collaborating with
educational institutes which teach to adults and children having learning disabilities for
retaining or recalling information. There are multiple styles of learning which are
communicated to adults and children that are facing problems wherein some information
is presented in various formats which increases opportunities to recall or retain
information.

TASK 2
Reflection on a critical incident in work setting where there has been demonstration of the ability
to transfer good practice to others. Consider how this good practice might support service
users that have identified
While working at NHS, I have performed a good practice within a situation in which the
human resources were facing complexities regarding the process of learning about new ways to
accomplish work and were feeling under stress and unsafe. Within such situation, I handled a
team of 5 people and all team members were allotted tasks and fulfil guidelines regarding
modification in conducting operations. Such team members were not be able to learn new
processes due to memory issues (van Laar and et.al., 2019). Therefore, I adopted service
standards which consist of staff development, leadership, quality, communication and physical
environment that has played a crucial role in the execution of the effective and better practices
within the situation. This has also facilitating the members of the team in the process of learning
the new concepts and processes along with the techniques to live the life. In relation to the adults
and children having multiple learning disabilities, I have some better practices that could assist in
living better life. For instance, healthcare workers identify and respond towards people facing
learning disabilities through fostering responsible culture and strong values with the standard of
leadership. In such way, the supporting manpower will be given ongoing professional
development and will be directed as well as assessed through health professionals to make sure
that there is better and successful support of the critical care as well as mobility requires to
children and adults having different learning disabilities to maintain well-being or life quality.
There has also been an another standard that is applied by me within the situation and it
was auditing as well as quality techniques that help in developing learning environment for the
human resources. Additionally, I have also presented a commitment for opening culture of the
practice in which team members were empowered as well as encouraged. It can be utilised by the
care workers of NHS in order to provide appropriate and effective support to the service-user
group and families having diverse learning disabilities. In such way, the experts in the respective
healthcare sector will control as well as monitor altogether in order to respond to the
compliments and complaints to support improvements and assurance within the learning
disabilities. Furthermore, reflective practices of the adults and children who have various
learning disabilities will closely be controlled for following the effective and superior quality

techniques and tools for caring or curing diverse learning disabilities. Employee development
was one of my effective practice for the other people that is used within workplace of critical
incident (Vogler and et.al., 2018). My team members got regular in-house training that includes
supported choices, total communication, decision-making, active support and many more.
Additionally, not involving new employees with typical interventions of learning disabilities
might make sure that it is competent and the initiation of safe practices for curing and assisting
service-user group.
CONCLUSION
From above explanation, it has been concluded that having transparent communication
and effective collaboration with the members of the team and professional employees facilitate
in enhancing the productivity of workplace, improves transparency and many more. It has also
resulted in better interpersonal relationships, minimising employee turnover and assists in
delivering effective and better customer service. This essay has covered multiple concepts that
have been concerned with the healthcare sector. Some of these concepts consist of multi-agency
working and its contribution to well-being of service-users in relation to patient-centred care.
Along with it, there has been an exploration on process of working collaboratively and as
effective team member for supporting such service-users. Moreover, this essay has also been
included a discussion on process of ensuring effective communication by practitioners when
working with these service-users. Furthermore, there has been a self-reflection on the critical
incident within the workplace where there has been a demonstration of the ability to transfer
good practices to others.

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