New website “Canrefer", to help cancer patients and GP’s find healthcare teams to assist them

In February 2012, the Cancer Institute NSW launched a new website, Canrefer, which allows general practitioners and people diagnosed with cancer and their families to search for healthcare teams specialising in the treatment and care of specific cancers.

Libby Harris, GP, a member of the team that advised on this website said that:

“when a GP accesses Canrefer to assist in referring their patients, it should provide the patient with the most appropriate multidisciplinary team care at a location that is acceptable to them and ideally in the shortest possible time. Being referred to a multidisciplinary team means patients have access to best-practice management, with input from different specialists and allied health professionals.

There is evidence to show that patients who experience this type of team care may have an improved outcome over those who do not. This may be measured in not only their survival time but in the patient’s appraisal of the quality of care they have received.

Extracted from the March edition of Incite, an online publication produced by the Cancer Institute NSW