Poster prize at ANZGOG ASM for VICS Optimal Care Summits team

Our poster on unwarranted variations in Victorian endometrial cancer care won the Clinical Poster Abstract Award at this year’s Australia New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG) Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in Canberra.

The Victorian Integrated Cancer Services (VICS) Optimal Care Summits program recently completed our first consultation on patterns of endometrial cancer care in Victoria. We identified 23 ‘unwarranted variations’ in care and outcomes, compared to Australia’s Optimal Care Pathway for Endometrial Cancer (PDF). That is, differences in access or use of health services – or in patient outcomes – that cannot be explained by differences in patients’ illness, needs, or preferences. The VICS Optimal Care Summits team and partners from Mercy Hospital for Women, Royal Women’s Hospital Melbourne, and the Victorian Department of Health presented these findings at the ANZGOG meeting (5–7 March 2025).

The poster (PDF) describes our mixed-methods approach to identifying unwarranted variations in endometrial cancer care across two time periods: 2013–2017 and 2018–2022.

We found some improvements, particularly in treatment, between the 2 periods. However, on 23 measures, patterns of care or outcomes in some or all of Victoria still fall short of optimal care and/or have become worse since 2013–2017.

The poster presented 3 of the 23 unwarranted variations that we uncovered – also shown in the images below. For details of all 23 variations, see our prioritisation report (PDF).

These 3 variations were prioritised for discussion at our live summit event in February 2025: More than 100 multidisciplinary clinicians, consumer representatives, and other key stakeholders in endometrial cancer care gathered in Melbourne to discuss causes of these variations and targeted actions to improve them.

The ANZGOG award reinforces the effectiveness of Victoria’s novel strategy – unique in Australia and an initiative of the VICS – to identify and understand unwarranted variations in cancer care and outcomes.

The VICS will shortly publish an ‘Action register’ of proposed ways to address all 23 unwarranted variations in Victorian endometrial cancer care and outcomes – improving the quality and equity of care for patients across the state. To stay informed about this and other VICS publications, subscribe to our bimonthly newsletter.