Team Working
Team working is one of the NHS's core clinical governance pillars, and like leadership, panels expect concrete examples rather than generic statements — so it's worth understanding both the theory and how it's actually assessed.
Why it matters
Modern healthcare is delivered by multidisciplinary teams, not individuals. A single patient pathway might involve doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists, radiographers, and social workers — often across different organisations. Poor teamwork is repeatedly cited in serious incident investigations and inquiries (Mid Staffordshire, Morecambe Bay) as a contributing factor to patient harm, which is why it's formally built into governance and appraisal frameworks rather than left as a "soft skill."
Key concepts you'll come across
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Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) — the standard model for complex care (cancer MDTs, frailty MDTs, etc.), where different specialties jointly decide management plans.
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Human factors and non-technical skills — communication, situational awareness, decision-making, and teamwork, drawn from aviation safety science and now embedded in NHS training
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Civility and psychological safety — evidence (notably work publicised via NHS England's "civility saves lives" campaign) links rudeness and hierarchy gradients to increased clinical error rates.
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SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) — a standardised communication tool used across teams and handovers to reduce ambiguity.
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The "team of teams" / systems working — since Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) became statutory in 2022, effective team working increasingly spans organisational boundaries, not just within one trust.
Good team working looks like
Speaks up early when something looks wrong, respectfully
Actively invites quieter or more junior voices into a discussion
Owns their share of a shared task without being chased
Adapts their working style to fit the team, not just the reverse
Gives colleagues the benefit of the doubt under pressure
Supports a struggling team member without being asked
Poor team working looks like
Stays silent, then criticises the decision afterwards
Only listens to people at or above their own seniority
Does the minimum, relies on others to cover gaps
Expects the team to accommodate them at all times
Assumes the worst about colleagues when something goes wrong
Notices a struggling colleague and does nothing
Associated
Sample
Questions
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Describe a situation where you delt with conflict within your team
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How do you ensure that your team is performing well?
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Productivity is a hot topic. There can be tension within a teams when trying to improve productivity, what will your role be as a consultant for harmonious team working within the MDT.
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Give an example of when you worked in a team and achieved the goal
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Give an example of when you worked in a team but did not achieve the goal
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How do you lead a team?
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Can you give an example where you didn’t work well as part of a team?
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Give an example of a time when a decision you made was challenged by the members of the team. What did you do?
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Give an example of a time when you challenged a colleague within your team