Abstract
Background: Cancer care has become complex, requiring healthcare professionals to collaborate to provide high-quality care. Multidisciplinary oncological team (MDT) meetings in the hospital have been implemented to coordinate individual cancer patients’ care. General practitioners (GPs) are invited to join, but their participation is minimal.Objectives: Aim of this study is to explore participating GPs’ perceptions of their current role and to understand their preferences towards effective role execution during MDT meetings.Methods: In May to June 2014, semi-structured interviews (n = 16) were conducted involving GPs with MDT experience in Belgium. The analysis was done according to qualitative content analysis principles.Results: Attendance of an MDT meeting is perceived as part of the GP’s work, especially for complex patient care situations. Interprofessional collaborative relationships and the GP’s perceived benefit to the MDT meeting discussions are important motivators to participate. Enhanced continuity of information flow and optimized organizational time management were practical aspects triggering the GP’s intention to participate. GPs valued the communication with the patient before and after the meeting as an integral part of the MDT dynamics.Conclusion: GPs perceive attendance of the MDT meeting as an integral part of their job. Suggestions are made to enhance the efficiency of the meetings.
Highlights
Evolutions in oncology have made cancer care more complex, resulting in the need for interprofessional collaboration
Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings in oncology have been implemented in hospitals to allow specialists from different disciplines addressing the corresponding care coordination and communication challenge, including the general practitioner (GP), to form the best possible team to achieve optimal patient care [1,2]
The European Partnership Action against Cancer (EPAAC) described Multidisciplinary oncological team (MDT) meetings as: Multidisciplinary team meetings [which] are an alliance of all medical and healthcare professionals related to a specific tumour disease whose approach to cancer care is guided by their willingness to agree on evidence-based clinical decisions and to coordinate
Summary
Evolutions in oncology have made cancer care more complex, resulting in the need for interprofessional collaboration. Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings in oncology have been implemented in hospitals to allow specialists from different disciplines addressing the corresponding care coordination and communication challenge, including the general practitioner (GP), to form the best possible team to achieve optimal patient care [1,2]. The purpose of these MDT meetings is to develop a strategic plan for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up, and to discuss the overall care of an individual patient. Interprofessional collaborative relationships and the GP’s perceived benefit to the MDT meeting discussions are important motivators to participate
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