Aim:
The Victorian Integrated Cancer Services (VICS) Survivorship Program aims to support health service providers across Victoria to improve wellbeing and care for patients in the cancer survivorship phase.
Methods:
VICS is a cancer improvement network comprising nine Integrated Cancer Services (ICS), partnering with more than 120 health services. The Survivorship Program was established to strengthen and expand access to survivorship care across Victorian public health services. A comprehensive survey was conducted to identify existing survivorship models of care. A statewide working group, consisting of project managers from each ICS, was formed to support implementation of selected models based on survey findings.
Results:
Scaling and spreading existing models of care enhances sustainability and increases the likelihood of successful service improvement. A centralised coordination approach, supported by the Working Group and led by the Survivorship Project Lead, also enables knowledge sharing, peer support, and strategic oversight.
The survey captured a range of established survivorship care services across Victorian public health services. With guidance from the Survivorship Working Group and informed by their in-depth knowledge of local health service contexts, existing survivorship models of care are being scaled and spread through 14 projects across Victoria. These include the implementation of five nurse-led services, three allied health–led services, and four survivorship information initiatives, including two focused on paediatric and adolescent populations. Additionally, two long-term follow-up discharge models of care are being trialled in metropolitan health services.
Conclusion:
A centralised implementation model, combined with access to personnel with local health service knowledge, enables the scaling and local adaptation of effective survivorship care models. Details on a range of survivorship projects are now publicly available.