Accessing Cancer Services and Care

At Northern Sydney Central Coast Health, Clinicians work together in multi-disciplinary teams to provide coordinated, comprehensive and individualised care to patients while providing the most advanced treatments. The multi-disciplinary team-based model of care offered to cancer patients in Northern Sydney Central Coast Health is collaborative and patient-focused. 

In addition to providing treatment, our aim at Cancer Services is to provide an environment that will enable individuals to complement their treatments with appropriate self-help strategies that will work towards improving their well-being. Cancer Services believe that good management is a combination of treatment/medication and multidisciplinary support.

What is multi-disciplinary team-based model of care?

Designated health professionals work together as a team to make recommendations to the primary treating doctor regarding the diagnosis, treatment and care of individual patients with a particular cancer type. Multi-disciplinary teams usually consists of primary care physician, surgeon, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists/haematologists, rehabilitation specialists, nurse specialists, social workers, and others who meet weekly to discuss the planned management of individual cancer patients. Team members have the expertise in cancer care and they play a major role in providing treatment, supportive care and rehabilitation that will achieve optimal survival and quality of life. 

The care provided to cancer patients also incorporates a number of sub-specialties - medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgical oncology, palliative care and rehabilitation with access to other generalist sub-specialties such as psychiatry, pathology, imaging and nuclear medicine.

Cancer Nurse Coordinators

A patient who has recently been diagnosed with cancer often faces a confusing time with intensive diagnostic work-up, multiple consultations with different health professionals and complex treatment options that frequently include multi-modality therapy. A Cancer Nurse Coordinator can help the patient and their family navigate their way and guide them through treatments. Within Northern Sydney and Central Coast Area Health Service there are Cancer Nurse Coordinators for Breast, Colorectal, Upper GIT, Head and Neck, Lung, Urological, Neurological and Heamatological Cancers. Each tumour stream has a designated Nurse Coordinator who works within the multidisciplinary team providing expert care and support for the patient and family. Cancer Nurse Coordinators are patient advocates at multidisciplinary team meetings and are available to the patient and their family for advice on pain and symptom management.

The core functions of the Cancer Nurse Coordinator include: assessment of the patients' physical and psychosocial well being (with prompt referral to medical or allied health staff where appropriate); coordination and scheduling of appointments; education of patients about their cancer and treatments in addition to; provision of support. The Cancer Nurse Coordinator helps patients with their individual treatment pathway, enables patients move smoothly through the hospital and community health care system and ensures that the patient has a full understanding of their treatment plan. They also assist patients and their families to access services that may help with home care assistance, community nursing, emotional support, counselling or financial issues.