We review the development of pre-qualifying interprofessional education (IPE) in the United Kingdom (UK) from 1997 to 2013 drawing on three sources: the literature, an online survey and reflective accounts by invited teachers with follow-up interviews. The aim of the research was to understand how prequalifying IPE had developed and what needed to be done to improve its efficiency and effectiveness set against a changing and complex policy landscape in education, health and social care, and government.
During the period under review at least two thirds of UK universities with qualifying courses in health and social care included IPE. Objectives were consistent: to improve care and safety for individuals, families and communities by enhancing students’ competence for collaborative practice. Implementation was conditioned by context. Discrete modules became less evident as IPE was woven into the fabric of professional education. Learning methods were interactive, dealing with professional similarities and differences to cultivate mutual respect and understanding. Common studies evolved by mutual consent. E-learning complemented face-to-face learning in the university and placement efforts were being redoubled to strengthen practice learning. Finding enough settings with an interprofessional culture remained difficult.
The outcome of the review is a set of recommendations to support the necessary diversity in IPE, to promote growth and effectiveness, especially capacity in learning and teaching, and to strengthen the infrastructure to remove the problems of alignment and enhance work-based IPE. The interconnected recommendations are addressed to the relevant bodies – teaching and research (universities), regulatory and standard setting (regulatory and professional bodies and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), commissioning and funding (Health Education England (the HEE)) and the Higher Education Funding Councils (HEFCs), government departments and agencies, service organisations, and promoters of IPE.