Reforming Cancer MDT Meetings Across Greater Manchester
Multidisciplinary Team Meetings (MDTMs) have been a cornerstone of cancer care since the Calman-Hine report (1995) and the NHS National Cancer Plan (2000). Despite major advances in cancer treatment over the past 25 years, the format of MDTMs has remained largely unchanged. The need for reform was highlighted by Cancer Research UK in 2017 and reinforced by NHS Improvement in 2020.
There is broad consensus that improving communication, documentation, and workflow within MDTMs can significantly reduce the administrative burden on clinicians—freeing up time that can be redirected into direct patient care.
To drive MDT Reform across Greater Manchester (GM), a Project Manager and Clinical Lead were appointed in January 2024. Since then, we’ve engaged with multiple pathway boards to identify key challenges and, using the MDT Reform Toolkit, have begun implementing streamlined processes tailored to each pathway.
As part of this work, we’ve created a Cancer MDT Directory—a central resource containing essential documentation and operational details, including:
- MDT Referral Proforma
- MDT Recommendations / Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
- Diagnostic Bundles
- Standards of Care Pathways
The directory also includes key information about MDTs across GM:
- Meeting times and days
- Cut-off times for adding patients to MDT lists
- Contact details for MDT coordinators
To access this directory, you must be an NHS member of staff in Greater Manchester wanting to refer a patient to an MDT. Please register using the form below:
User Registration
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