Multidisciplinary cancer care is considered best practice in the treatment planning and care for cancer patients. There is clear evidence of the benefits of multidisciplinary care, including improved experiences and outcomes for consumers, as well as for health professionals.[126]

Implemented effectively, multidisciplinary care is integrated, holistic and consumer-led, where consumers are empowered to participate in their individual care planning and care, and consumer health information moves seamlessly between all healthcare practitioners and services across the cancer care continuum.[127]

Currently, there is variable access to multidisciplinary teams, impacted by location and cancer type, and no national coordination or management of multidisciplinary care quality standards. Variations exist across the sector around what constitutes multidisciplinary care.

This action builds on Action 3.2.3 Implement innovative, evidence-based and cost-effective models of care for people living with and beyond cancer, and extends the adoption of new innovative, evidence-based models across to multidisciplinary care. This 5-year action could include:

• initiatives to ensure equitable and universal access by all Australians to multidisciplinary care, irrespective of location, cancer type, or health service
• a nationally consistent and comprehensive understanding of what constitutes multidisciplinary care, including allied health, supportive and psychosocial care, community health, mental health, specialist services, emotional and spiritual health, and exercise physiologists
• clear definitions, roles and responsibilities, and governance for system design and implementation across the cancer care continuum
• nationally consistent standards of multidisciplinary care quality and processes to regularly monitor and assess the quality of multidisciplinary care
• coordinated processes to share information between multidisciplinary teams.

Activities in this action should further align with Action 5.2.2 Build on existing capability of the primary care workforce to collaboratively and sustainably support the needs of consumers and Action 5.5.2 Assist the sector to support all cancer care practitioners to work at the top of their scope of practice, increase retention and ensure ongoing access to continuing professional development, which recommend supporting the cancer care workforce to take a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach across services and sectors to provide more holistic cancer care.

For information on the specific needs for priority population groups for this action, refer to Action 3.2.3.