As part of the State-wide implementation of the Cancer Services Framework under the Multidisciplinary Care Project, the Victorian Department of Human Services has developed a Multidisciplinary meeting toolkit. The toolkit was developed to assist the development of multidisciplinary teams in meeting the Patient Management Frameworks set out for each tumour stream. Western Health currently conducts 8 Multidisciplinary Team Meetings:
Tumour Group | Lead Clinician | Day & Frequency |
Breast | Ms Meron Pitcher | Thursday - Weekly |
Haematology | Dr William Renwick | Tuesday - Weekly |
Colorectal | Mr Ian Faragher | Thursday - Weekly |
Upper GI | Mr Val Usatoff | Wednesday - Weekly |
Head and Neck | Mr Sor Way Chan | Thursday - Fortnightly |
Genito-Urinary | Mr David Clarke | Monday - Weekly |
Lung | Dr Anne Marie Southcott | Wednesday - Weekly |
Gynaecology | Dr Vivek Aurora | Monday - Fortnightly |
Western Health Integrated Cancer Services
Western Health is a member of the Western Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Services (WCMICS), which is one of three metropolitan, and five regional Integrated Cancer Services established by the DHS to implement the Cancer Services Framework across Victoria.
The Framework focuses on delivering the right treatment and support to patients as early as possible and throughout their cancer journey.
The WCMICS comprises of:
Local Collaborating Tumour Groups (LCTG) have been formed across the WCMICS. These groups meet every quarter via videoconference, email meetings and on occasions also form part of the Victorian Cooperative Oncology Group (VCOG) meetings.
The key objectives of these groups include:
Gaining an understanding of the scope and pattern of cancer across the WCMICS.
Reviewing the Patient Management Frameworks (PMFs) against current practice to identify issues and gaps, and recommend projects for cancer care development across the WCMICS.
Addressing other issues as identified and agreed upon by the individual tumour groups.