Key messages
- Multidisciplinary care describes a collaborative approach to cancer treatment planning and ongoing care.
- Multidisciplinary care aims to ensure that members of the cancer treatment and care team can discuss all relevant aspects of a cancer patient’s physical and supporting care needs.
Victorian cancer multidisciplinary team meeting quality framework
A cancer multidisciplinary team meeting is a deliberate, regular meeting involving a range of health professionals with expertise in the diagnosis and management of cancer, for the purpose of facilitating best practice management of all patients with cancer.
The Victorian cancer multidisciplinary team meeting quality framework contains an agreed set of standards, indicators and measures for all meetings in Victoria. This quality framework is aligned with the broader National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) standards. The Victorian Integrated Cancer Services developed this resource to enhance and support the quality, effectiveness and consistency of cancer multidisciplinary team meetings. A set of 3 tools are available to assist in monitoring multidisciplinary team meeting quality.
A comprehensive self-report audit of 85 multidisciplinary team meetings against the Victorian cancer multidisciplinary team meeting quality framework was conducted in 2019–2020 across 22 Victorian health services. The audit project was led by the Victorian Integrated Cancer Services who will support the implementation of the project’s recommendations in 2024 and future years.
Multidisciplinary care defined
Multidisciplinary care is a collaborative approach to cancer treatment planning and ongoing care throughout the treatment pathway. Multidisciplinary care aims to ensure that members of the treatment and care team can discuss all relevant aspects of a cancer patient’s physical and psychosocial needs along with other factors impacting upon the patient’s care.
Effective multidisciplinary care assures:
- improved treatment
- improved team communication and support
- improved coordination of patient care
- reduced service duplication
- increased opportunities for recruitment into clinical trials
- consideration of patients’ physical and emotional needs.
It is well documented and accepted that multidisciplinary care represents best practice in terms of treatment planning and care for cancer patients.
Improving multidisciplinary care in Victoria
The three strategic directions that continue to guide the improved multidisciplinary care in Victoria are:
- creating and supporting effective multidisciplinary teams
- establishing and strengthening multidisciplinary meetings
- building effective team linkage across and between Integrated Cancer Services.
How does this model relate to the other cancer reform work?
Multidisciplinary care is an underlying principle in the optimal care pathways for cancer.
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Reviewed 29 October 2024