Introduction: The NSW Clinical Excellence Committee describes M&M meetings as “a key opportunity for clinical staff to engage in the processes of patient safety and quality improvement”. It is widely recognised that patients receiving palliative care move frequently between care services including acute hospitals, community services and palliative care units. This results in multiple treating teams being involved in a patient’s care. Without collaboration in quality improvement activities such as M&M meetings, it is not possible to improve patient care in its entirety across different services. Despite this, M&M meetings traditionally occur within discrete services.

 

Method: After initial consultation with staff, including the formation of a working group with clinicians from across the acute hospitals, community and palliative care units, a Combined Service M&M Meeting structure was designed covering the geographic area of the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Bimonthly meetings were established with members from across all these services with a rotating chairperson. Other clinicians were invited to attend as appropriate. Any participant could escalate a case to the M&M meeting. Each meeting ran for one hour with two cases being presented to allow adequate time for discussion and feedback. A questionnaire was completed by participants assessing satisfaction.

 

Outcomes: In the initial 24 months a median of 16 participants attended per meeting. Cases presented were varied by team presenting and issue for presentation. Participants were satisfied with the format of the M&M and highlighted the benefits of increased awareness of external teams and improved communication between teams.

 

Conclusion: M&M meetings are increasingly recognised as a core component of quality improvement. Given the frequent movement of patients receiving palliative care across multiple settings, other palliative care providers could benefit from a regular M&M meeting across services.