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NEMICS Annual Forum 2024: Delivering Impact

North Eastern Melbourne

The NEMICS Annual Forum was held online on Tuesday, 29th October, with the theme “Delivering Impact.” The forum brought together attendees from NEMICS member health services and consumer representatives.

The event opened with a presentation by Cameron Goodyear, Interim CEO of Austin Health and Chair of the NEMICS Governance Committee. Cameron provided an overview of the 2023-2024 financial year and highlighted significant trends in cancer service demand:

  • Significant growth in cancer service demand over the past nine years
  • In 2023, 54,000 public cancer admissions occurred, representing a 24% rise in malignant cancer bed-based admissions.
  • Northern Health experienced the most notable growth in demand.
  • There has been an increase in multidisciplinary meetings (MDMs), reflecting enhanced capacity and collaboration.

Cameron also announced the release of the NEMICS Annual Report 2023-2024.

The forum featured an excellent lineup of guest speakers, including three recipients of NEMICS Service Improvement Grants who shared the outcomes of their projects:

  1. Andrea Morrison (Austin Health): Identifying palliative care patients most likely to benefit from physiotherapy.
  2. Carolyn Russell (Mercy Health): Improving supportive care rates at the Mercy Hospital for Women.
  3. Emily Minopoulos (Eastern Health): Outpatient Venetoclax model of care.

Watch the service improvement presentations. (YouTube)

The first feature speaker, Catherine Harper from Crondar Consulting, provided valuable insights into the cascade of evaluation and monitoring measures that connect the Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan with cancer services, the Victorian Integrated Cancer Services (VICS), and beyond.

Watch the presentation by Catherine Harper. (YouTube)

Another feature presentation came from Dr. Diana Lewis of Northern Health, who shared details about their real-time Colonoscopy Quality Dashboard pilot. This initiative, designed to automate colonoscopy data, has significantly reduced the six-week annual auditing time, improved endoscopist performance, and garnered interest from Safer Care Victoria and international clinicians. Plans are underway to expand this dashboard to other health services in Victoria.

Watch the presentation by Dr Diana Lewis. (YouTube)

NEMICS looks forward to continuing its work with member health services and the wider cancer community to achieve optimal and equitable cancer outcomes for all Victorians.

Watch the full NEMICS Annual Forum. (YouTube)