Patient Experience
Multidisciplinary meetings (MDMs) play an essential part in the management of many diseases, including cancer. At a cancer MDM, the relevant specialists discuss each patient’s clinical presentation, radiological (scans/ imaging), histopathological (examination of tissue or surgical specimen) and other relevant findings, to draw up an appropriate individual treatment plan based on current best practices. To ensure that the MDM process is safe and effective, the patient and all their relevant data need to be discussed by the appropriate professionals. An agreed care-plan must then be recorded, communicated and put in place. This requires the allocation of clearly defined roles and responsibilities to key members of the multidisciplinary team (MDT).
Eight cancer multidisciplinary team conferences are held weekly, to establish consensus diagnosis and treatment plans for all cancer patients:
Monday: Head & neck, lung, gynaecology
Tuesday: Breast
Thursday: Lymphoma, skin,gastro-intestinal (GI)
Friday: Urology.
Clinical leadership is provided for each MDT by the following lead clinicians:
The MDT conferences are supported by a coordinator team that liaises with specialties within St James’s Hospital and other hospitals nationally and internationally, to ensure all relevant information is available at each MDM.