Multidisciplinary oncology team meetings are crucial hubs for integrated, patient-centred diagnosis and treatment planning. Teams offer the potential to achieve more than any person could achieve working alone; yet, particularly in teams that are cross-disciplinary, it is critical to capitalise on the variety of knowledge, skills, and abilities available. Members of multidisciplinary teams (MDT), which include doctors, nurses and allied health clinicians, are well aware of the real-world constraints of putting principles into practice.
VCCC Alliance Research and Education Leads for Cancer Nursing, Professor Mei Krishnasamy and Melanoma and Skin Cancer, Associate Professor David Gyorki recently led a review of the current state of play.
The review was performed by Hai Tran, a medical student from the University of Melbourne, and is now published in Cancer Medicine. It evaluated the evidence that describes how multidisciplinary groups of clinicians come together to devise a treatment plan for cancer patients.
“Optimising the function of MDT meetings is essential to the delivery of quality cancer care," said Professor Krishnasamy. “In our report, we explain the factors that impact the decision-making process of multidisciplinary team meetings such as the quality of teamwork, leadership roles, and availability of clinical information.
“We comment on the communication processes: ensuring that all relevant team members speak up and influence the clinical decision in the patient’s best interest.”
Professor Krishnasamy said that a recently published study showed that nurses do not speak in 75 per cent of cancer multidisciplinary team meetings yet it is critical to capitalise on the variety of knowledge, skills, and abilities available in the meeting. Professors Krishnasamy and Gyorki are currently designing interventional studies to explore the impact of these factors in greater depth.
"This review is the first step in our effort to better understand the human interactions necessary for optimal discussion and decision-making within multidisciplinary team meetings," said Professor Gyorki.
For more information on the VCCC Alliance R&E Lead program, contact Dr Jasper De Boer
