Building Stronger Pathways for Women with Gynaecological Cancer: A Collaborative Gippsland-Monash Health Model

The Gynaecological Cancer Care Pathway is a collaborative initiative between Gippsland Regional Integrated Gippsland Cancer Care Centre (GCCC) and Monash Health, demonstrating how regional and metropolitan cancer services can work together to deliver coordinated, patient-centred care. 

Designed to support women from diagnosis through to treatment, follow-up and survivorship, the pathway creates a streamlined patient journey while ensuring access to specialist gynaecological oncology services. Through strengthened partnerships between clinicians, Cancer Care Nurses and Cancer Navigators, the model promotes multidisciplinary decision-making, clear communication and coordinated care planning to achieve better patient outcomes.

A key focus of the pathway is the early involvement of regional clinicians in treatment planning and multidisciplinary meetings, enabling shared decision-making and supporting timely access to specialist services. The model also formalises processes for repatriating patients back to regional care when clinically appropriate, allowing more treatment and follow-up care to be delivered closer to home.

Key features of the pathway include:

• Direct referral processes between Gippsland clinicians and Monash Health gynaecological cancer services
• Enhanced communication between multidisciplinary teams
• Involvement of Gippsland clinicians in multidisciplinary meetings to support collaborative treatment planning
• Earlier planning for repatriation of care to Gippsland where appropriate
• Coordinated handover processes to ensure continuity of care across services
• Shared survivorship planning and follow-up pathways
• Ongoing governance and collaboration between regional and metropolitan teams.

By improving information sharing, care coordination and continuity of care, the pathway aims to reduce fragmentation across services, lessen travel burden for patients and families, and support equitable access to high-quality, evidence-based cancer care for Gippsland patients.

This initiative highlights the value of the Victoria Integrated Cancer Service network and demonstrates how strong regional-metropolitan partnerships can improve patient experiences while ensuring care is delivered as close to home as possible without compromising access to specialist expertise.
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