Cancer clinicians are being invited to have their say on the Draft National Optimal Care Pathways (OCP) Framework that is being developed as part of the first national Australian Cancer Plan.
Cancer Australia has put the draft (link here) out for consultation to stakeholders in the cancer sector to provide input that will help refine and strengthen the final OCP Framework.
“OCPs have been embedded in the Plan as national standards of consistent, safe, high-quality, and evidence-based care, including cancer-specific and population-specific OCPs,” the agency said in a statement released this month.
“A nationally consistent framework for OCPs is needed to standardise the approach to developing, updating, adapting, evaluating, and embedding OCPs into cancer care. This will support health professionals and health services to deliver optimal care, and ensure OCPs are available to, and resonate with, people affected by cancer,” it said.
“The vision is for OCPs to be embedded into clinical practice as the standard of cancer care, ensuring cultural safety and accessibility throughout the cancer journey, improving equity in cancer care and outcomes for all Australians.”
According to the draft version, OCPs will be based on principles of equity, being future-focused, person-centred and collaborative.
The draft envisions improving functionality of the OCPs for clinicians by digitising them to make them more accessible, and embedding them into existing clinical workflows.