‘We Might Have a Conversation Once a Week but the Quality Is High’: Research and Consultancy in Primary Care Multidisciplinary Teams

Abstract

Home Professional Communication Chapter ‘We Might Have a Conversation Once a Week but the Quality Is High’: Research and Consultancy in Primary Care Multidisciplinary Teams Claire Mann Chapter First Online: 12 June 2020 813 Accesses 1 Citations Part of the Communicating in Professions and Organizations book series (PSPOD) Abstract In recent years the UK has seen a significant change to the operationalisation, delivery and culture of primary care services, from GP-led healthcare to patient-centred care provided by a multidisciplinary team (MDT). This may include a wide range of professional groups including doctors, nurses and pharmacists working at a range of levels alongside other allied health professionals. This chapter reflects on notions of ‘conversation as learning’. As an educational ethnographer and consultant, I use Lave and Wenger’s (Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press, 1991) model of situated learning as an analytical perspective to consider how learning occurs in primary care settings. Within the broad communities of practice framework, it is acknowledged that ‘conversation and communication’ are key features which impact on social experiences and learning. This chapter highlights an empirically based approach to analysing real-life language data which can work alongside other analytical approaches.