Aim
Increasing demand for cancer treatment across Western Health highlighted opportunities to optimise Chemotherapy Day Unit (CDU) capacity at Sunshine and Sunbury Hospitals. Baseline chair utilisation was approximately 60% bookable minutes, with inefficiencies identified in booking processes, communication pathways, pathology result availability, treatment cancellations, and chair allocation. These factors limited timely treatment access, reduced operational efficiency, and created potential barriers to equitable access to cancer care.
The project aimed to increase CDU chair utilisation from 60% to 100% bookable minutes by March 2026, improving treatment capacity, patient access, and equity by maximising available treatment opportunities closer to where patients live.
Methods
A multidisciplinary quality improvement approach was implemented across both CDU sites using process mapping, stakeholder engagement, iterative improvement cycles, and ongoing utilisation monitoring.
Interventions included standardised booking processes, nurse-to-chair allocation models, a responsive waitlist process to fill cancellations, improved communication pathways, consumer reminder messaging, and a real-time performance dashboard. Additional strategies included increasing chair capacity at Sunbury Hospital.
Results
Over 12 months, chair utilisation increased from approximately 60% to an average of 85%, enabling Western Health to deliver an additional 660 chemotherapy appointments. Improved visibility of capacity supported proactive scheduling, reduced avoidable treatment gaps, and increased access to care closer to patients’ homes. Standardised workflows improved consistency in nursing workloads and service coordination.
Conclusion
This project demonstrates that data-driven process redesign and multidisciplinary collaboration can increase chemotherapy treatment capacity while improving equitable access to care. Optimised scheduling, communication, cancellation management, and real-time monitoring reduced inefficiencies and created a sustainable model for managing increasing oncology demand. Embedding utilisation monitoring into routine CDU reviews supports ongoing improvement and future service expansion.