The demands by patients for a more streamlined, accessible and flexible service (Department of Health (DoH) 2000), demands for the integration of services (DoH 2008) and a high-quality accountable service, and demands for roles which extend beyond traditional boundaries acknowledging the range of knowledge and skills held by practitioners and offering them the opportunity to achieve their full potential (DoH 2001; 2002), have meant that the roles of healthcare professionals have changed dramatically over recent years. These changes have placed a great emphasis on teamwork and multiprofessional co-operation.

The success of non-medical prescribing is dependent upon the contributions from a number of practitioners, including specialist nurses, pharmacists and doctors, and the ability of these professionals to work together as a team. This chapter examines the key issues that need to be considered by healthcare professionals if non-medical prescribing is to be implemented effectively. It commences with an exploration of teamwork and then moves on to discuss clinical governance. Communication, sharing information and supplementary prescribing are then examined.

Teamwork

In order to work effectively as a team, a number of key elements are required. These include:

• Effective verbal and written communication.

• Enabling and encouraging supervision.

• Collaboration and common goals.

• Valuing the contributions of team members and matching team roles to ability.

• A culture that encourages team members to seek help.

• Team structure (Vincent et al. 1998).

Underpinning each of the above elements is the need for team members to have a clear understanding of one another's roles and the ability to communicate with one another.