Printer Friendly4 Priority Areas
Victoria’s Cancer Action Plan (VCAP – Jan 2009) highlights the government-led drive in the fight against cancer. www.health.vic.gov.au/cancer
The 4 Priority Areas for action are:
The Integrated Cancer Services across Victoria are tasked with implementing the plan in close collaboration with health service professionals and those affected by cancer who give of their time and talents to assist with turning the plan into reality.
Policy documents which underpin the areas of improvement to cancer care can also be found in Quicklinks – Policy Documents.
Multidisciplinary Care
Achieving best practice cancer care
Multidisciplinary care aims to ensure that all patients receive the benefit of communication between all members of the health team in regard to their treatment and care plan. All aspects of a cancer patient’s physical and supportive care needs are the focus of multidisciplinary meetings (MDMs) and these meetings are held regularly in the Grampians region based on cancer type. The aim is to facilitate best-practice management for the patient and to develop an appropriate care plan which is communicated to the whole team. An identified team member conveys the plan to the patient so that they can make informed choices about their treatment...Read More
Achieving best practice cancer care (Victorian Policy document)
Care Coordination
What is care coordination?
“Care coordination is a comprehensive approach to achieving continuity of care for patients. This approach seeks to ensure that care is delivered in a logical, connected and timely manner so that the medical and personal needs of the patient are met. In the context of cancer, care coordination encompasses multiple aspects of cancer care delivery including multidisciplinary team meetings, psychosocial assessment and the provision of required care, referral practices, data collection, development of common protocols, information provision and individual clinical treatment.”
Click the link below to view the Victorian policy document in relation to Care coordination titled "Linking cancer care - A guide for implementing coordinated cancer care":
http://www.health.vic.gov.au/cancer/docs/carecoord/carecoordpolicy.pdf
Local initiatives related to Care Coordination / GICS
- Cancer Service Directory ...More
- Multidisciplinary Meetings ...More
- Clinical Reference Groups
- NICC Ballarat & NICC Wimmera ...More
- GSSN Ballarat & Wimmera ...More
- Grampians Cancer Service Workforce Mentoring ...More
- Rollout of the Victorian Cancer Action Plan including the Supportive Care policy
- Formation of the Supportive Care Advisory Group in the Grampians Region
...Read More
Supportive Care
The policy document for Supportive Care in cancer, Providing optimal cancer care was released in May 2009 and covers reform in Victoria, defining supportive care, an outline of Victoria’s approach to supportive care and strategic directions for supportive care.
GICS is liaising with health care professionals and the community to identify supportive care needs of those affected by cancer in the Grampians region. GICS is also working with the University of Ballarat to map existing services available in the Grampians which have a supportive care focus. We have developed our Supportive Care Strategic Plan which elicits activities for the next 3 years subject to review of the plan in 2011 following consultation...Read More
 | GICS Supportive Care Strategic Plan 2010-2012Background A cancer diagnosis places a significant burden on cancer patients and their families or carers. Effectively addressing their supportive care needs (physical, social, psychological, spiritual and information) will better enable patients and families to cope with their diagnosis and treatment and to live as well as possible through the cancer pathway. ... | Published 07-06-2010 |  657kb |
Quality Monitoring and Support
Clinical excellence in cancer care – A model for safety and quality in Victorian cancer services(Feb 2007) outlines what needs to occur in order to achieve high quality cancer care. The role of the Integrated Cancer Services in this endeavour is to build partnerships with health care professionals which aim to bring about improvements both in services available and in the delivery of those services...Read More
