As a relatively new consultant I have found that the number of committees, quangos, reports and initiatives that exist can become a confusing mess. There are a few people who are in touch with what is going on politically, and a whole lot more who are pretty much in the dark. In this article I hope to summarise my understanding of some of the stuff you should know something about. Please contact me with corrections or updates.
Organisations and committees:
Association of Cancer Physicians (ACP): That’s us. It is the representative body for medical oncologists in the UK. We work closely with the Royal College of Physicians.
Joint Specialty Committee (JSC): A group consisting of representatives from the ACP, RCP (the Registrar), clinical oncology, and patient advocates. It is chaired by the ACP Chair. It basically provides a forum for medical oncologists and the RCP to discuss common issues. Each medical specialty has such a committee. It meets around four times a year at the RCP and discusses issues such as training, competencies, Department of Health and other national initiatives relevant to cancer medicine, and patient focussed areas such as survivorship.
Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC): Deals with training issues mainly relevant to medical oncology. Recently involved in developing the Knowledge Based Assessment (KBA), the exam for medical oncology trainees.
Joint Collegiate Council for Oncology (JCCO): A committee with members from both medical and clinical oncology mainly concerned with common training and workforce issues, resources for cancer treatments, as well as responses and input into matters related to cancer treatment, prevention, and research. Hosted by the RCR there seems to be some cross-over with the JSC.
National Chemotherapy Advisory Group (NCAG): Established to advise the National Cancer Director and the Department of Health on the development and delivery of high quality chemotherapy services. The group includes oncologists, nurses, patient representatives, and representatives from the DoH.
National Cancer Action Team (CAT): Set up (I assume by the DoH) to support the Cancer Networks in delivering the Cancer Reform Strategy and to drive up service quality and implement the Cancer Plan. It reports to the National Cancer Director and works in partnership with other organisations, charities, Royal Colleges, etc. involved in cancer services. They produce an occasional newsletter and their work programme for 2008/9 is summarised here. I'm not quite sure but I think CAT has now been integrated into Cancer Improvement.
NHS Improvement: a national programme which brings together previous service improvement projects in cancer, cardiac, and diagnostic services into one organisation which now also covers stroke services.
Cancer Improvement: Part of NHS Improvement. Advises cancer service managers and clinical leads on how to improve services by issuing a series of documents and recommendations.
Institute for Innovation and Improvement: Confusingly this is a different organisation from those mentioned above demonstrating the remarkable coordination (?!) of initiatives within the NHS. This is actually a physical institute within the campus of the University of Warwick which apparently focuses on developing new ways of working and new technologies and then disseminating throughout the NHS. You may have heard or been involved in some of it's projects, which include "Productive Ward" and "Seven Ways to No Delays". On the other hand this might be news to you.
National Collaborating Centre for Cancer (NCC-C): a partnership of professional organisations, academic units, and patient/carer organisations that develop NICE guidelines for the NHS in England and Wales on treating and caring for people with cancer. Based in Wales it is hosted by Velindre NHS Trust in partnership with Cardiff University.
Map of Medicine: Originally set up by two clinicians at The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust in London this initiative is now owned by Hearst Corporation. It basically creates peer-reviewed flow charts of patient healthcare pathways that would be available to all professionals involved in patient care. The idea is to reach a consensus on best practice, develop faster more efficient care, and provide a tool to benchmark against. Various oncology pathways are under development by different groups around the country including the National Cancer Networks Forum, and the Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire Cancer Service (ASWCS).
Much more to come. There is much more!
