title: Skillsharing. Joint statement from the Royal College of Physicians of London and the Royal College of Nursing.
abstract: For a number of years there has been a trend towards the sharing of skills, with their transfer from one group with which they have been traditionally associated to another within the health care professions. Examples in medicine include nurses delivering care to patients with diabetes mellitus, carrying out gastrointestinal endoscopy, administering intravenous chemotherapy to patients with cancer, and contributing to the management of patients with myocardial infarction and with asthma; opticians are employed in the screening of patients for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy; and physiotherapy and radiography grew out of nursing. This movement is seen to be advantageous for patient care in that it extends the range and numbers of personnel. If this development is to be fostered and to continue to represent an advance in the delivery of health care, it is necessary to lay down guidelines to ensure that standards are maintained with safety and efficacy safeguarded. It was for this reason that representatives of the Royal Colleges of Nursing and of Physicians of London met to agree a set of principles that, while constructed for medicine and nursing, should be of general application to all the professions involved in providing health care.
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011361:Professional Competence; D006113:United Kingdom