Aims:
Delivering best-practice cancer care requires partnership between patients, carers, and their multidisciplinary team (MDT). Increasing patient numbers and continued resource constraints necessitates review of current service/prioritisation models, to ensure that patients and families receive personalised, holistic multidisciplinary care.
This project compared consumer-reported (patients/family members) healthcare needs with services provided by members of the cancer MDT, in a quaternary hospital in Brisbane, Australia.
Methods:
Using a cross-sectional design, patients diagnosed with head/neck (HNC), lung, oesophageal, brain or haematological cancers, and their family member/carer, were interviewed regarding perceived supportive care needs prior to a scheduled outpatient review (medical/MDT), at any time from diagnosis. Blinded clinician data, including identified care needs and intervention +/- referrals actioned were retrieved from electronic medical records. Data sources were triangulated and analysed descriptively.
Results:
Patients (n=309; 202 male, age range 19-94) reported a variety of supportive care needs related to physical, practical and psychosocial concerns. Of those, 205 patients (total 66.3%; HNC 80%, haematology 75%, brain 59%, lung/oesophagus 53%) reported one or more concerns requiring MDT intervention. These issues were not actively identified or managed by clinicians up to 80% of the time. Family member/carer distress was also highly prevalent (40%, 69/173) which was rarely identified or managed by health professionals.
Conclusions:
Patients and their families, report multiple unmet healthcare needs throughout the treatment continuum, which are poorly identified by clinicians. Collaborative teams need to explore novel ways to identify and prioritise patients for supportive care intervention, to minimise the burden of cancer for patients/families, as well as cost to health systems.