Pancreatic Cancer

Specialist multidisciplinary teams (sMDTs) should have effective channels of communication in place with spokes to ensure cohesive, coherent and collaborative care for all patients.

sMDTs should streamline meetings and optimise processes to prevent delays, promote cost-effectiveness and focus discussions on appropriate patients.

Trusts should prioritise fast track pancreatic cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Trusts should implement the NHS England Best Practice Timed Pathway for HPB cancers.

HPB radiologists within sMDTs should adopt the PACT-UK radiology reporting template to standardise and improve treatment decision making.

Cancer alliances should consider adopting a single-queue approach to diagnostic procedures such as EUS/ERCP, to pool waiting lists between organisations.

Full addressee: Cancer alliances

Surgical centres should adopt a stepwise approach to improving resection rates, including rates of borderline resectable and locally advanced disease surgery and neoadjuvant therapy, and upskill the surgical team to deliver such surgery.

Specialist multidisciplinary teams, oncology centres and cancer alliances should improve patient access to expert HPB clinical and medical oncological opinions and treatment and harness the benefit of centralised expertise and experience. (HPB oncology is recognised as a distinct subspeciality).

Providers should ensure they have a safe and efficient CNS service to support each pancreatic cancer patient on diagnosis and follow-up.

Trusts/HPB teams should prioritise pancreatic management strategies to improve all pancreatic cancer patients’ quality of life.

Trusts, ICBs and cancer alliances should ensure that all cancer centres have equitable and timely access to enhanced supportive care or a supportive oncology service, with all pancreatic cancer patients referred at diagnosis.

Trusts and sMDTs to improve data collection and coding using NHS England and GIRFT guidance for clinical coders where available.