Optimal Care Pathways
The optimal care pathways map seven key steps in cancer care. They provide a national standard for the high-quality cancer care that all Australians should expect.
The principles underpinning optimal care pathways always put the patient at the centre of care throughout their experience and prompt the healthcare system to deliver coordinated care.
There are three resources for each pathway: the optimal care pathway (comprehensive version), the quick reference guide for health professionals and the What to expect guide for patients, carers and families. There is a specific optimal care pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and the What to expect guides for consumers are available in plain English and seven languages.
The most recent optimal care pathways developed are for women with cervical cancer, for people with sarcoma (bone and soft tissue) and for people with cancer of unknown primary.
The optimal care pathways are endorsed by Cancer Australia, the National Cancer Expert Reference Group (a committee that reports to the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Committee and, through this committee, to the Council of Australian Governments Health Council) and all states and territories. The optimal care pathways have Australia-wide acceptance and government support.
Visit the Cancer Council website <www.cancer.org.au/OCP> to view the optimal care pathways (comprehensive version) and quick reference guides.
Visit the Cancer Council’s cancer pathways website <www.cancerpathways.org.au> to view the What to expect guides.
Refresh project
The original optimal care pathways (with the exception of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander optimal care pathway) were first developed in 2014 -2016. Since then new improvements have emerged and areas of improvement have been identified by the public, for cancer care. The Victorian Department of Health commissioned Cancer Council Victoria to refresh the optimal care pathways, to ensure they continue to support the delivery of optimal care across Australia.
The resources being refreshed include the comprehensive optimal care pathways, quick reference guides and What to expect guides for 15 cancer types:
- Acute myeloid leukaemia
- Basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma
- Breast cancer
- Colorectal cancer
- Endometrial cancer
- Head and neck cancer
- Hepatocellular carcinoma
- High-grade glioma
- Hodgkin lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
- Lung cancer
- Melanoma
- Oesophagogastric cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Prostate cancer.
The objectives of the refresh are to:
- Review and update the suite or resources based on known evidence-base and best practice
- Expand the scope of the optimal care pathways to include emerging areas of practice (e.g. emerging therapies and genomics)
- Improve readability and reduce duplication
- Include checklists to act as a prompt for the health professional and patient, and timeframes in the Quick reference guide and What to expect guides.
The refreshed optimal care pathways are expected to be published at the end of 2020.
Implementing Pathways for Cancer Early Diagnosis (I-PACED) Resources
I-PACED resources are Victorian resources that provide information about prevention, early detection, initial investigation and referral pathways. These resources were developed with an aim to assist GPs about critical primary care points and the recommended care that should be offered.
If you have any questions please email Julia Brancato at Julia.Brancato@cancervic.org.au.