EmailMultidisciplinary Care
What is multidisciplinary care?
Multidisciplinary care is a collaborative approach to 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.
It is well documented and accepted that multidisciplinary care represents best practice in terms of treatment planning and care for cancer patients. Effective multidisciplinary care assures:
- improved treatment
- improved team communication and support
- improved coordination of patient care
- reduced service duplication
- increased opportunties for recruitment into clinical trials
- consideration of patients physical and emotional needs.
Improving multidisciplinary care in Victoria
The three strategic directions that guide the improved multidisciplinary care in Victoria, as outlined in the policy document are:
- creating and supporting effective multidisciplinary teams
- establishing and strengthening multidisciplinary meetings
- building effective team linkage across and between ICS.
How does this model relate to the other cancer reform work?
Victoria’s model for multidisciplinary care incorporates the structures established to drive change (the Integrated Cancer Services and Local Collaborating Tumour Groups) and the models that describe the requirements for optimal delivery of care (Patient Management Frameworks) that is safe, of high quality and consistent with best practice.
Multidisciplinary care is one of four identified key priority areas for reform including care coordination, supportive care and reducing unwanted variation in practice. It is recognised that the four priority areas are integrally linked to each other.
For further information please contact Spiridoula Galetakis on Tel (03) 9096 2131 or by email at spirdoula.galetakis@health.vic.gov.au
