Cancer MDT meetings need 'radical overhaul', medical organisations say

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By Erin Dean

Cancer multidisciplinary team meetings need a “radical overhaul” to improve patient outcomes, medical organisations have said.

Currently meetings are expensive, inefficient and increasingly overloaded, doctors’ leaders have warned.

A briefing from the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and the Royal College of Pathologists said that the meetings are also a heavy time burden for clinicians and add to delays to patient care.

Improvements could create fairer access to cancer treatment options, give clinicians more time with patients and save costs.

The upcoming national cancer plan for England is an opportunity to reform how cancer MDTs work, according to the organisations, which also include the Association of Cancer Physicians and the Royal College of Nursing.

Despite NHS England guidance to focus discussions on complex cases, it has become established practice for every patient to be discussed at meetings, often more than once.

“Multidisciplinary team meetings are inefficient, expensive, and do not help to improve cancer care for many patients,” the document said.