Optimising multidisciplinary cancer care team approaches involving general practitioners

Aims and rationale
Government policies encourage multidisciplinary cancer care team approaches, involving GPs from diagnosis to palliation. Limited information exist about roles GPs have within multidisciplinary cancer care teams or how people with cancer, cancer specialists, GPs and members of cancer support organisations perceive the roles. This study explored perceptions of GP roles in multidisciplinary cancer care teams

Methods
An interpretative method was used to analyse transcribed semi-structured interviews with 21 people with cancer; 7 GPs; 6 cancer specialists, and 8 cancer support organisation members.

Findings
The study revealed that: people with cancer and GPs do not include the term 'team' when discussing cancer care; relationships and communication between GPs, cancer specialists and people with cancer are critical for collaborative cancer care; people with cancer, GPs and cancer specialists acknowledge GP roles change across cancer trajectories; cancer specialists view GP roles as the link between tertiary care and people with cancer and that GPs need to be valued; members of cancer support organisations viewed the main GP role was to support people with cancer in their cancer trajectory. Five themes are discussed: 'teamwork in cancer care-rhetoric or reality?'; system alignment to support multidisciplinary cancer care teams'; 'GP role clarity in cancer care teams'; 'generalist primary care roles in cancer care' and 'the theorised dimensions of primary care specialists'.

Benefits to the community
The study provides evidence about GP roles within multidisciplinary cancer care teams, as well as highlighting significant policy, practice and research issues regarding how to make GPs part of multidisciplinary cancer care teams.

8667 - Perceptions of the Role of the Primary Care Generalist within Multidisciplinary Cancer Care Team (585kb pdf).