National Breast Cancer Audit: the use of multidisciplinary care teams by breast surgeons in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Objective: To explore the involvement of members of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Section of Breast Surgery in Australia and New Zealand in multidisciplinary care (MDC) teams. Design and setting: Questionnaire sent to all full members of the RACS Section of Breast Surgery in December 2006. Participants: 239 of 262 active full members of the RACS Section of Breast Surgery (response rate, 91.2%). Main outcome measures: Surgeons’ use of, and the composition and functioning of, MDC teams in public and private practice, and in metropolitan, regional and rural settings. Results: 85% of responding surgeons reported participating in at least one fully established MDC team. Public-sector teams were operationally more consistent and functional than private teams, and rural teams were less well developed than those in metropolitan and regional centres. The six core disciplines recommended by the National Breast Cancer Centre appear to be well represented in most teams. Patients and their general practitioners were not considered to be part of the treatment team by surgeons. Conclusions: MDC is supported by most breast surgeons, but there are deficits in rural areas, and in the private sector relative to the public sector.