Background
Each year, approximately 1000 children and adolescents in Australia receive a cancer diagnosis.¹˒² Although survival rates have improved, the long-term consequences of survivorship remain poorly recognised and inadequately supported. Research shows that close to 80% of childhood and adolescent cancer survivors will develop at least one late effect - spanning physical, psychological, and social domains.³ As these survivors move out of paediatric specialist services, GPs often take on the role of primary clinician - yet only half of GPs report feeling equipped to manage this population, and nearly half of survivors struggle to find knowledgeable community-based providers.⁴
Aim
To build GP capacity in childhood cancer survivorship care in WA, through direct clinical observation, and establish a network of trained GPs able to provide coordinated care for survivors transitioning from paediatric services.
Methods
In partnership with the Paediatric Oncology Survivorship team at Perth Children's Hospital (PCH), Cancer Council WA recruited GPs through its Primary Care Cancer Education project to attend supervised clinical attachments. Participants observed specialist clinicians and oncology nurses across the Transition Clinic and one additional specialist clinic (Leukaemia and Lymphoma, Brain Tumour, or Solid Tumour). Sessions included pre-clinic meetings, health surveillance consultations, and survivorship planning discussions.
Results
Six GPs completed attachments between December 2023 and 2025. Evaluation data demonstrated consistently strong outcomes: 100% of participants rated the attachment as relevant to their practice, all learning outcomes were met, and 100% reported they would recommend the activity to a colleague and change something in their clinical practice.
Conclusions
Supervised clinical attachment is an effective and highly valued model for building GP expertise in childhood cancer survivorship. Administrative barriers and time constraints currently limit scale. Planned next steps include GP reimbursement, complementary online learning resources, and a referral network connecting transitioning survivors with trained community GPs.