Rehab team meeting and case conference notes template with examples
An MDT meeting minutes format for rehab teams, with sample entries and every action given one owner and a due date.
✓One note per patient
✓Decisions and actions with named owners
✓Family update agreed before closing
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What's inside
Attendees
Patient and Family Input
Discipline Updates
Shared Goal Review
Risks and Safety
Discharge Planning
Decisions
Actions
+ 3 more sections
Preview · 11 sections
Interdisciplinary Team Meeting Note
Patient
Patient ID
Meeting date
Meeting type (weekly review, case conference, discharge)
Chair
Note taker
Start of rehab episode
Planned discharge date
Attendees
Role / Discipline
Name
Present, Apologies or Written Update
Physiotherapy
Occupational therapy
Speech and language therapy
Psychology / counselling
Rehabilitation nursing
Medical lead
Patient / family
Patient and Family Input
What the patient asked the team to discussIn the patient's words. Record how their view was gathered if they did not attend.
Family concerns raised since the last meetingName who raised each concern.
Discipline Updates
Discipline
Update Since Last Meeting
Concerns
Proposed Change
Physiotherapy
Occupational therapy
Speech and language therapy
Psychology / counselling
Rehabilitation nursing
Shared Goal Review
Shared Goal
Status
Evidence
Decision (continue, change, close)
Risks and Safety
Risk discussion and decisions
Discharge Planning
Discharge planning progressDestination, provisional date, home visit, equipment, carer training, referrals, and anything that could delay discharge.
Decisions
Decisions madeOne decision per line, worded so it cannot be misread later.
Actions
Action
Owner
Due Date
Done
Family Update
What will be shared with the familyWhat, by whom, by when, and in which language.
Next Meeting
Next meeting date and focus
Therapist Sign-off
Therapist
Designation
Registration
Date
How to fill it in
1
Attendees
List each person by role and name, marking present, apologies or written update.
More guidance
List each person by role and name, and mark who was present, who sent apologies and who sent a written update. Note anyone who joined by phone. If a discipline involved in the patient's care was absent with no update, the gap should be visible here. Record whether the patient or family joined any part of the meeting.
2
Patient and Family Input
Record what the patient wanted raised, in their words, and family concerns since last time.
More guidance
Record what the patient wanted raised, in their own words, and how it was gathered if they were not there. Add concerns the family shared with any staff member since the last meeting, with who raised them. This section keeps the patient's voice in a discussion that otherwise happens about them rather than with them.
3
Discipline Updates
One or two lines per discipline: what changed, any concern, any proposed change.
More guidance
Each discipline gives a short update since the last meeting: what changed, any concern, and any change it proposes. Ask for function first and detail second. The note taker writes one or two lines per row and leaves the rest to discipline notes. If two updates conflict, such as steadier walking in therapy than on the ward at night, record both.
4
Shared Goal Review
For each shared goal, record status, evidence, and a decision to continue, change or close.
More guidance
Go through each shared goal from the goal plan: its status, the evidence behind it, and a decision to continue, change or close it. When a goal changes, write the new wording and the reason. A goal that has not moved for two meetings deserves a specific discussion about why, with an action, rather than another “continue”.
5
Risks and Safety
Record new or changed risks, the decision made, and who is responsible.
More guidance
Record any new or changed risk, what the team decided, and who is responsible. Write decisions as the responsible clinician agreed them. If a decision follows a clinic policy, such as the falls or safeguarding procedure, say so and note where the full record is held. Details that need restricted access belong in the restricted record, with only a pointer here.
6
Discharge Planning
Note what has moved since the last meeting, what is outstanding, and any likely delay.
More guidance
Capture what has moved since the last meeting and what is still outstanding: destination, provisional date, home visit, equipment, carer training, referrals and family arrangements. Flag anything that could delay discharge so it gets an owner in the action table.
7
Decisions
Write one decision per line, in words nobody can misread later.
More guidance
List each decision the team reached, one per line, in words nobody can misread later. “Discussed reducing SLT” leaves the reader guessing; “SLT reduced to twice a week from 24 March” does not. If the team could not agree, record that, the options discussed, and who will take the question forward.
8
Actions
Give every action one named owner and a due date.
More guidance
Every action gets one owner and a due date. Use names rather than disciplines so it is clear who will do it. At the start of each meeting, read back the previous actions and mark them done or carried over. An action carried over twice needs a different plan or a different owner.
9
Family Update
Agree what the family will be told, by whom, by when and in which language.
More guidance
Decide what will be shared with the family after the meeting, who will share it, by when, and in which language. Families who hear different versions from different staff lose trust quickly; one named person giving one update avoids that. Afterwards, record what was actually communicated and how: in person, by phone, or by message.
10
Next Meeting
Give the date, any specific focus, and whether it is the final review.
More guidance
Give the date and any specific focus, such as a goal that needs fresh discussion or a family member who will be invited to join. If the patient is close to discharge, say whether this will be the final team review and what must be ready by then.
Rehab team meeting and case conference notes template with examples: filled sample
Fictional entries, initials only, showing the level of detail to aim for. Impression and summary sections are left for the treating clinician.
Attendees
Physiotherapy: Mr D. (present). Occupational therapy: Ms A. (present). Speech and language therapy: Ms P. (apologies; written update read out). Nursing: Sr M. (present). Medical lead: Dr K. (by phone, 10 minutes).
Patient and Family Input
Mr R. asked his key worker to raise going home for his granddaughter's naming ceremony on 30 March. Son phoned on 17 March, worried about how the family will manage the stairs.
Discipline Updates
Nursing: using commode at night with standby help; one episode of confusion at 2 am on 16 March. Concern: very tired for morning PT. Proposed: move PT to 11 am.
Shared Goal Review
Goal 2 (sit at the dining table for a whole family meal): achieved; sat 40 minutes at dinner on 3 occasions (OT observation and family report). Decision: close.
Risks and Safety
Night-time confusion on 16 March discussed. Medical lead to review medicines; nursing to keep a night log for one week. Falls precautions unchanged.
Discharge Planning
Destination: son's ground-floor flat. Provisional date 12 April. Home visit booked 20 March (OT, PT). Outstanding: commode delivery; wife's stair training.
Decisions
Home leave for the naming ceremony on 30 March agreed, with son present throughout. OT to go through transfers with the family beforehand.
Actions
Order commode through supplier | Ms A. (OT) | 21 March | Done 20 March.
Family Update
Key worker Ms A. to call the son by 6 pm on 19 March, in Tamil: home leave on 30 March agreed; home visit on 20 March; discharge date still 12 April.
Team meeting note vs family meeting record
Team meeting note
Family meeting record
Main audience
The rehab team
Patient, family and team
Language
Brief professional wording
Plain language, often in the family's home language
Core content
Discipline updates, goal decisions, risk, actions
Family questions, goals in their words, agreed plans
Frequency
Weekly or fortnightly
At goal setting, key reviews and before discharge
Shared with family
Only the agreed update
Yes, a copy after the meeting
Tips and mistakes to avoid
Do
Keep the chair consistent and rotate the note taker, who should not also present a patient.
Share the note on screen during the meeting so attendees can correct wording.
Give each patient a fixed slot, and book a separate case conference for anyone who needs longer.
Write decisions that affect the family in words the key worker can pass on unchanged.
In healhab, clinics author their own templates, so a team meeting note can sit beside the assessment and goal plan.
Avoid
Writing a narrative of who said what instead of the decisions reached.
Assigning actions to “team” or “OT” with no named person or date.
Skipping the read-back of last week's actions, so items reappear unnoticed.
Recording sensitive safeguarding or family conflict details in a note many staff can open.
About this session note
A rehab team meeting note, also called case conference notes or MDT meeting minutes, records one interdisciplinary discussion about a patient: who attended, each discipline's update, the review of shared goals, risks, decisions, actions with an owner and due date, and what the family will be told. This free template keeps those records consistent from week to week.
Weekly or fortnightly team meetings on a rehab unit
A case conference when progress stalls or plans change
Discharge planning meetings in the final weeks
Joint reviews with the referring hospital or community team
Read more
Weekly team meetings are where rehab teams make most decisions, yet they are often the least documented. The whiteboard gets wiped, and two weeks later nobody can say who agreed to order the wheelchair.
A named note taker fills it in during the meeting, one patient per note. In the UK and India these are MDT minutes or case conference notes; US teams often say interdisciplinary team (IDT) or care conference notes.
Questions
What are case conference notes in rehabilitation?+
They are the written record of a team discussion about one patient: attendees, discipline updates, the shared goal review, risks, decisions and actions. Rehab teams use them for weekly reviews and for longer case conferences when a plan needs rethinking.
What should MDT meeting minutes include?+
Attendees by role, patient and family input, a short update from each discipline, the shared goal review, risk decisions, discharge planning progress, clear decisions, actions with an owner and date, the family update, and the next meeting date.
Who should take notes at a rehab team meeting?+
A named note taker who is not chairing. Many teams rotate the role among disciplines. The chair checks the decisions and actions are recorded correctly before the meeting moves to the next patient.
Should the patient attend the team meeting?+
Practice varies. Some centres invite the patient and family to part of every review; others hold separate family meetings. Either way, record the patient's input and how it was gathered. For meetings with families, use the family meeting record template.
One note per patient or one note per meeting?+
One note per patient keeps each person's record complete and makes it easier to share appropriately. A separate meeting-level attendance list can sit alongside for administration.
How long should a team meeting note be?+
Usually about a page. If it runs much longer, updates are probably being written out in full; move detail to discipline notes and keep the decisions and actions prominent.
Is there a sample of completed MDT meeting minutes?+
Yes. Each section guide on this page shows a fictional sample entry, using initials only. Goal status, risk decisions and any clinical interpretation come from your own team's discussion.
