The Optimal Care Pathways (OCP)
describe the optimal cancer care for specific tumour types. Each pathway maps
the patient journey, aiming to foster an understanding of the whole experience
and its distinct components to promote quality cancer care and patient experience.
The resources identify the recommended care at each step of the patient journey,
and to date there is an OCP for 15 tumour streams with Quick Reference Guides
for clinicians and What To Expect guides for consumers.
Cancer Council
Victoria are trialling a model of education outreach visits into GP practices in
the Northwest Melbourne region that supports the adoption of the OCP
recommendations into primary care. The vehicle for this is the Implementing
Pathways for Cancer Early Diagnosis (I-PACED) project, which aims to increase
awareness about critical primary care points and the clinical care required
along the colorectal and lung OCP. The educational outreach visits are
facilitated by our 13 11 20 oncology nurse.
To date, 146 practices
have participated in these education sessions including 435 General
Practitioners, 80 Practice Nurses and 12 Practice Managers. Preliminary
evaluation demonstrated improvements in awareness, confidence and use of
recommendations outlined in the bowel and lung cancer OCPs. These practice visits
have also provided an opportunity to identify issues commonly experienced by the
primary care setting, which will be provided to key stakeholders across the
state to advocate for systems level improvements.
To accompany the OCP clinician resources, a ‘What
To Expect’ series has been developed for consumers in English, and Plain
English translated into 7 different languages (Chinese, Vietnamese,
Arabic, Greek, Italian, Hindi and Tagalog).
Keep reading