VICS statement welcoming the Victorian Cancer Plan 2024–2028

On 12 September 2024, the Victorian Government officially launched its Victorian Cancer Plan 2024–2028.

In the foreword, The Hon Mary-Anne Thomas MP, Minister for Health, notes, “This plan outlines how we will improve cancer outcomes, building on the success of our previous endeavours.”

The managers, clinical directors, and governance groups of the Victorian Integrated Cancer Services (VICS) welcome this new plan and look forward to contributing to its success.

For nearly 20 years and two previous Victorian Cancer Plans, the VICS have been Victoria’s government-funded mechanism for collective improvement of cancer services. We are a statewide network of 9 partnerships, with 122 member health services in total – including every publicly funded health service that cares for Victorians affected by cancer.

The government’s Health Services Plan (PDF) report in April 2024 used the VICS as its example of a “specialist service network … demonstrating ability for collaboration across entity borders for service improvement”.

Past impacts and ongoing initiatives enabled by the VICS are cited throughout the new Victorian Cancer Plan:

• LMICS supported local health services (Bendigo Community Health Services and Bendigo Regional Cancer Centre) to increase screening participation and develop accessible resources for Karen and Afghan refugees in Bendigo (p.29)
• PICS led development of Australia’s Optimal Care Pathway for adolescents and young adults with cancer, working with consumers from the Victorian and Tasmanian Youth Cancer Action Board (p.30)
• We lead the state’s ability to identify unwarranted variations in cancer care and design actions to address them – The VICS Optimal Care Summits (p.40)
• One highlighted outcome of the VICS Optimal Care Summits has been development of a synoptic computed tomography (CT) report to present at pancreatic cancer multidisciplinary meetings (MDMs), which has received a Medical Research Future Fund grant for further testing and roll-out at 40 pancreatic cancer treatment centres across Australia (p.40)
• The VICS were key to enabling and embedding within health services the Accessing Cancer Care Equitably using Support Services (ACCESS) program, working with Cancer Council Victoria (p.46)
• Another outcome of our VICS Optimal Care Summits is a VICS collaboration with the Victorian Cancer Registry to improve cancer stage recording at multidisciplinary team meetings across the state (p.52).

Several other initiatives already being led by the VICS also address key action areas of the new plan, such as:

• Our recent review of palliative care and advance care planning practices across Victoria, followed by 28 local ICS projects, increased patients’ access to palliative care and advance care services, and improved performance monitoring and reporting in this area.
• GRICS and SMICS have created and successfully piloted an Optimal Cancer Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People learning package, in partnership with Aboriginal Health Services, which will now be delivered statewide to support Victoria’s health workforce and enable culturally safe and appropriate support and services.

The VICS invite the Department of Health to engage with our clinical and operational leaders, and with the chairs of our Governance Groups (health service chief executives), on how our network can effectively and efficiently support the new plan.