NHS service standard - 6. Create a team that includes multidisciplinary skills and perspectives

Make sure you have the right - and diverse - skills and roles to build and operate the service.

Make as many decisions as possible in the team so that you can respond quickly to what you learn about users and their needs.

Why it's important

A team with diversity of expertise and perspectives is more likely to come up with the best solution. The size and roles you'll need will change as you build the service.

You will get most value from the broad range of roles recommended by the Government Digital Service.

What you should do

You should be able to show that your team:

  • is a multidisciplinary team that will help you achieve what you need to in each phase of development
  • is co-located as far as possible
  • includes people with expertise in how services are delivered across all the relevant channels, and the back end systems the service will need to integrate with
  • has access to the specialist expertise it needs (for example clinical, legal or policy expertise, from inside or outside the organisation)
  • will help you deal with what you believe are your riskiest assumptions

If the team is working with contractors and outside suppliers, you must make sure it's on a sustainable basis.

Guidance

NHS service manual

See also service standard point 16: Make your service clinically safe

GOV.UK resources

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If you have any questions, get in touch with the service manual team.

Updated: March 2022