Are general practitioners getting the information they need from hospitals and specialists to provide quality cancer care for Indigenous Australians?
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Date
2020-01-17
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Affiliation(s)
(Valery, Bernardes, Hartel, Ratnasekera) Population Health, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
(de Witt, Garvey) Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia
(de Witt) Faculty of Health, Translational Research Institute, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
(Martin) School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
(Walpole) Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
(Williamson) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Unit, Queensland Health, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
(Meiklejohn) Orange Sky Australia, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
(Ratnasekera) School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
(Bailie) University Centre for Rural Health, The University of Sydney, Lismore, NSW, Australia
(de Witt, Garvey) Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia
(de Witt) Faculty of Health, Translational Research Institute, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
(Martin) School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
(Walpole) Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
(Williamson) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Unit, Queensland Health, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
(Meiklejohn) Orange Sky Australia, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
(Ratnasekera) School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
(Bailie) University Centre for Rural Health, The University of Sydney, Lismore, NSW, Australia
Year
2020
Citation
Internal Medicine Journal. Vol.50(1), 2020, pp. 38-47.
Journal
Internal Medicine Journal
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Organisation: (MSHR) Menzies School of Health Research Organisation No: 100012661 Country: Australia
No: 1041111 Organisation: (NHMRC) National Health and Medical Research Council Organisation No: 501100000925 Country: Australia
No: 1044433 Organisation: (NHMRC) National Health and Medical Research Council Organisation No: 501100000925 Country: Australia
No: 1083090 Organisation: (NHMRC) National Health and Medical Research Council Organisation No: 501100000925 Country: Australia
No: 1105399 Organisation: (NHMRC) National Health and Medical Research Council Organisation No: 501100000925 Country: Australia
No: SRP 13-01 Organisation: Cancer Council NSW Organisation No: 501100001102 Country: Australia
The authors acknowledge the ongoing support of the Lowitja Institute, Australia's National Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research.
No: 1041111 Organisation: (NHMRC) National Health and Medical Research Council Organisation No: 501100000925 Country: Australia
No: 1044433 Organisation: (NHMRC) National Health and Medical Research Council Organisation No: 501100000925 Country: Australia
No: 1083090 Organisation: (NHMRC) National Health and Medical Research Council Organisation No: 501100000925 Country: Australia
No: 1105399 Organisation: (NHMRC) National Health and Medical Research Council Organisation No: 501100000925 Country: Australia
No: SRP 13-01 Organisation: Cancer Council NSW Organisation No: 501100001102 Country: Australia
The authors acknowledge the ongoing support of the Lowitja Institute, Australia's National Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research.
Abstract
Background: Cancer care involves many different healthcare providers. Delayed or inaccurate communication between specialists and general practitioners (GP) may negatively affect care. Aim(s): To describe the pattern and variation of communication between primary healthcare (PHC) services and hospitals and specialists in relation to the patient's cancer care. Method(s): A retrospective audit of clinical records of Indigenous Australians diagnosed with cancer during 2010-2016 identified through 10 PHC services in Queensland is described. Poisson regression was used to model the dichotomous outcome availability of hospital discharge summary versus not. Result(s): A total of 138 patient records was audited; 115 of those patients visited the PHC service for cancer-related care after cancer diagnosis; 40.0% visited the service before a discharge summary was available, and 36.5% of the patients had no discharge summary in their medical notes. While most discharge summaries noted important information about the patient's cancer, 42.4% lacked details regarding the discharge medications regimen. Conclusion(s): Deficits in communication and information transfer between specialists and GP may adversely affect patient care. Indigenous Australians are a relatively disadvantaged group that experience poor health outcomes and relatively poor access to care. The low proportion of discharge summaries noting discharge medication regimen is of concern among Indigenous Australians with cancer who have high comorbidity burden and low health literacy. Our findings provide an insight into some of the factors associated with quality of cancer care, and may provide guidance for focus areas for further research and improvement efforts.Copyright © 2019 Royal Australasian College of Physicians
PubMed ID
31081226 [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=31081226]
Type
Article
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Subjects
Cancer