The multidisciplinary team is made up of many people (Box 27.1). Sometimes, the patient will require input from all the members of the team and sometimes very few. The approach needs to be flexible. Each member of the team will deal with a different part of the disease and have different skills and approaches to care. No single member of the team can function in isolation and a good team will allow the patient access to them whenever required.

In the United Kingdom, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) emphasizes that the patient is a pivotal member of the team and that all treatment should be based on a discussion of the patient’s needs and preferences, with patients having ongoing access to a multidisciplinary team to assess the effect of the condition on their day‐to‐day activities as well as their mood, social, work and leisure activities (Box 27.2).

A single member of the team, the ‘named team member’, should have overall responsibility for that patient’s care, and be responsible for co‐ordinating their care. This person should be accessible quickly by the patient in case of flare management and other problems which require prompt attention.

It is important to involve patients in decisions about their care. There are now many resources available for clinicians and patients to use, to aid in making difficult decisions such as whether or not to start disease‐modifying treatments in RA. The MDT should be aware of these clinical decision aids and incorporate them into their everyday care (Box 27.3).