Brooks, Abigail and Gillon, Ulrike (2025) Interdisciplinary working within urgent community response and intermediate care services: a scoping review. British Journal of Community Nursing, 30 (11). ISSN 1462-4753

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Abstract

Background and Aim:
Urgent Community Response (UCR) Services are central to the NHS strategy of moving care into the community to reduce hospital admissions. As part of intermediate care (IC), UCR teams rely on interdisciplinary (ID) working. However, there is limited understanding of how healthcare professionals (HCPs), particularly nurses, experience and undertake this collaboration. This scoping review explores the available evidence on HCPs’ experiences within ID UCR teams.

Methods:
A scoping review guided by the PRISMA-ScR framework was conducted. Databases searched included CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Open Grey, covering studies from 1999 to 2025.

Findings:
42 sources were included, mostly UK-based. Key themes identified include role flexibility, shared decision-making, and flatter hierarchies. Nurses and support workers were well represented; whilst paramedics were underrepresented. Facilitators included joint visits and shared records; barriers included unclear roles and limited ID training.

Conclusions:
It appears that effective ID working underpins UCR success. Further research is needed to understand workforce experiences, especially of collaborative models and emerging roles.

Item Type:	Article
Identifier:	10.12968/bjcn.2025.0111
Additional Information:	This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in British Journal of Community Nursing, copyright © MA Healthcare, after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.12968/bjcn.2025.0111.
Keywords:	Urgent Community Response (UCR), Interdisciplinary, Healthcare Professionals’ experience, Community care, workforce role and identity
Subjects:	Medicine and health > Person centered care Medicine and health
Date Deposited:	27 Feb 2026
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/14679

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