VICS Optimal Care Summits colorectal cancer consultation 2018

The second colorectal cancer (CRC) consultation in the VICS Optimal Care Summits program took place in 2017–18.

The summit event on 16 March 2018 attracted more than 60 attendees, from a range of professional disciplines. A summary of progress since the VICS’ first consultation on CRC, in 2014, noted that all 8 of the recommendations from our first colorectal cancer summit had been successfully implemented.

Recommendations

Summit participants prioritised 6 unwarranted variations in care or outcomes for action, using a matrix that assessed the impact on patient outcomes and the effort it would take to reduce variations. The first 2 variations below were considered to be high-impact and low-effort by the majority of participants; the other 4 were considered high-impact but also would require high effort to change.

1. Increase the proportion of colorectal cancer patients having a multidisciplinary meeting (MDM)
2. Increase use of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer patients
3. Increase the percentage of MDM discussions for rectal cancer patients before commencing treatment
4. Increase use of neoadjuvant radiotherapy in rectal cancer patients
5. Increase the number of resected lymph nodes for colon cancer patients to 12+
6. Increase the timeliness of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer patients to within 8 weeks of surgery.

Impacts

The identified need for improvements in use of MDMs informed the 2018 development of standards, indicators and measures for all MDMs in Victoria, aligned with Australia’s National Safety and Quality Health Service standards – collectively forming the Victorian cancer multidisciplinary team meeting quality framework. This framework became a focus of a 2020–24 priority area for the VICS and a statewide audit project led by LMICS.

Progress since our 2018 colorectal cancer summit will be discussed at a third summit on this topic in February 2025.

Summit records

• Introduction video
• Progress update video
• Data presentation video
• Summit highlights (PDF)
• Progress update since 2014 (PDF)
• Data presentation (PDF)
• Summit summary and evaluation (PDF)

Expert advisory group

• Dr Geoff Chong (Co-chair) – Medical oncologist, Austin Health
• Mr Brian Hodgkins (Co-chair) – Colorectal surgeon and senior lecturer in surgery, Monash University
• Mr Andrew Bui – Colorectal surgeon
• Mr David Dalton – Surgeon, Shepparton
• Dr David Deutscher – General surgeon, Ballarat
• Mr Ian Faragher – Director of Colorectal and General Surgery, Western Health
• Dr Marcus Foo – Radiation oncologist, Genesis Care
• Dr Neil Jayasuriya – General surgeon, Latrobe Regional Hospital
• Prof. Mathew Leong – Upper GI surgeon, Barwon Health
• A/Prof. Paul McMurrick – Colorectal surgeon, Cabrini Health
• Dr John Rees, Anatomical pathologist, Monash Health
• Dr Heinrich Schwalb – Surgeon, Albury Surgical Group
• A/Prof. Jeremy Shapiro – Medical oncologist, Cabrini Health
• Mr Bruce Stewart – Colorectal surgeon, Ballarat Health
• Mr Neil Strugnell – Colorectal surgeon, Northern Health.