The National Plan for Child Cancer Services in New Zealand has been developed by the Ministry of Health and the National Health Board in conjunction with District Health Boards (DHBs) and the Paediatric Oncology Steering Group.
It addresses the challenges of providing high quality child cancer services nationwide, given the small number of patients and their wide geographic spread in New Zealand.
Approximately 150 new cases of child cancer are diagnosed each year, with just over 320 children receiving active therapy at any one time.
The plan has been developed with the aim of strengthening child cancer services by achieving national agreement on a service delivery model that is clinically safe, effective and sustainable.
A nationally agreed service delivery model will provide:
- equitable access to the appropriate level of service required by individual children with cancer throughout New Zealand
- certainty for parents, families and whānau of children with cancer regarding the patient pathways, location(s) of their children’s treatment and resources available to support the families and whānau when they need to travel to another location
- clarity for District Health Boards (DHBs) and other service providers as to the referral pathways for all children suspected of cancer
- sustainable child cancer services in New Zealand into the future.
Three options for a service delivery model were evaluated against specific criteria and on analysis it was determined that the best option was for two specialist centres, one at Auckland DHB and one at Canterbury DHB, with shared care arrangements with other DHBs.
This model builds on the strengths of the current model and takes into consideration issues that have challenged the viability of previous service configurations.
The preferred option achieves the best balance between the need for access for families and whānau, and the need for consolidation to support a scarce paediatric oncology workforce and best clinical practice.
Purpose
The purpose of developing this Plan is to achieve national agreement on the service delivery model for child cancer services in New Zealand that will provide:
- equitable access to the appropriate level of service required by individual children with cancer throughout New Zealand
- certainty for parents, families and whānau of children with cancer regarding the patient pathways, location(s) of their children’s treatment and resources available to support the families and whānau when they need to travel to another location
- clarity for District Health Boards (DHBs) and other service providers as to the referral pathways for all children suspected of cancer
- sustainable child cancer services in New Zealand into the future.
Key Results
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made regarding child cancer services in New Zealand.
- That New Zealand have a two centre model for the provision of specialist paediatric oncology care, with shared care arrangements with other DHBs; and that the two specialist centres be Starship Children’s Hospital at Auckland DHB and Christchurch Hospital at Canterbury DHB.
- That a national clinical network be established for child cancer services in New Zealand.
- That the Implementation Action Plan be monitored six monthly by the Ministry of Health and the National Health Board.