Unintended consequences
There are, of course, unintended impacts of increasing team size
and complexity.
Larger team size is a logical consequence of integrating nurses into
primary care teams. As the number of staff in a team increases so do
“transaction costs”. People need to spend increasing amounts of time
conferring with each other, decreasing the amount of time available
for direct patient care. As team size increases, a critical point is
reached where transaction costs can outweigh the benefits of
collaboration. Measuring transaction costs, however, is not easy,
and existing research has little to offer by way of guidance on
optimal team size. One study suggests team sizes should not exceed
10 people, but further research is needed to test the validity of this
finding.19 Shared patient record systems, which all team members
may contribute to and withdraw information from, have been
advocated as one means of reducing transaction costs.20 Electronic
medical records are the preferred option, as information can be
transmitted quickly to wherever it is needed. It will be obvious that
good team management and leadership can also reduce transaction
costs. Nonetheless, the coordination of care remains more challenging
in large compared with small teams, and the costs of this must be
balanced against the benefits.
Personal continuity of care is valued by both patients and health
care staff, particularly for more serious, psychological or family
issues. Continuity of care has been shown to improve health
outcomes for patients in some studies, although the wider evidence
base remains divided and inconclusive.23 Larger team size is
known to reduce personal continuity of care, as well as patient
satisfaction with access to their preferred caregiver.6, On the
other hand, rapid access for acute problems tends to be better with
larger teams. The opportunities for specialisation within large
teams may also bring about improvements to the quality of care for
patients and enhance the range of services that can be provided.
Whether these advantages outweigh the disadvantage of loss of
personal continuity is unclear and merits further investigation.