Background
Limited patient level information is available from electronic systems regarding patient attendances at the medical oncology (MONC) clinic at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH). Improved knowledge of patient characteristics could assist with departmental service provision as well as planning for future service development both in terms of workforce and infrastructure. This includes clinical trials and additional services provided from outside the department.
Aim
To obtain a snapshot of patient attendance to the RBWH MONC clinic including: appointment type (new/follow-up; treatment review/no treatment), cancer diagnosis, age, management intent (curative/palliative), treatment type received, if known to palliative care, and clinical trial involvement.
Methods
This prospective service evaluation was exempt from full Human Research Ethics Committee review. All RBWH MONC clinic appointments over 4 weeks (14 May – 8 June 2018) were included. Data collection forms were completed by clinic doctors and collated onto a patient identifiable Excel spreadsheet.
Results
1108 patients were seen in 1544 appointments across 100 clinics by 11 consultants and their registrars, median age 61years(range 18-95). Appointment type: new visits-111(8%); follow-up no treatment-417(31%); and treatment-838(61%), of which 598(71%) had parenteral treatment. Mean new patients per consultant FTE per week was 3.5. Most patients were seen by a medical oncologist subspecialising in their cancer(87%).
The majority of appointments were for patients aged 56-65(n=401) and 66-75years(n=425); and managed with palliative intent–830(61%), with 156(19%) known to palliative care. Palliative intent was more common in older age(≥56 years), with similar numbers of younger patients(<56years) being managed with curative and palliative intent. 168(13%) appointments were clinical trial related.
Conclusions
We successfully characterised reasons for RBWH MONC clinic attendances, enabling better assessment of clinical demands within our service. More sophisticated data collection within current systems could allow easier extraction of information to allow the service to proactively manage evolving service requirements.