Summary of roundtable discussions and key areas of consensus 1. National breast cancer stage and recurrence data must be regarded as ‘critical data’ In the pre-roundtable survey and throughout the roundtable, attendees stressed that routine, population-level breast cancer stage and recurrence data must be viewed as ‘core [cancer] data’ and prioritised by governments, health services and other relevant stakeholders. Attendees highlighted a wide range of benefits to the systematic and routine collection of population-level breast cancer stage and recurrence data. Benefits included: • National breast cancer stage and recurrence data would illuminate trends in delayed diagnosis and the detection of recurrences, enabling the development of more targeted approaches to screening and early detection. • The data would allow for new tests, scans and breast cancer treatments to be assessed more quickly and at the population level, leading to enhanced identification of effective tests and treatments for Australians affected by breast cancer. • The data would allow greater understanding of demographic, geographic and clinical factors impacting breast cancer diagnosis and outcomes, including why the significant gap in cancer outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians remains.
“
Without this data it is impossible to truly know...are we delivering equitable care, equitable outcomes across the regional, remote, very remote, metro populations, your Aboriginal, non-Aboriginal populations, your cultural, linguistic, diverse populations, often forgotten group people living with disabilities, are they receiving equitable care as well? It’s absolutely critical for that.
• The data would enable efficiencies in government and health sector expenditure due to improved understanding of where investment is most likely to improve outcomes and address unmet needs of people affected by breast cancer.
“
The benefit to [governments] is that they have a much better idea of how to control their spend, and they have a better idea of how to understand and explain to the taxpayer the benefit of that spend in early disease and metastatic across the whole cost of the care of that patient, and to target those areas that are inequitable.
20
National Roundtable Report
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online