This case study recounts the experience of Mrs Li, a 55-year-old female diagnosed with head and neck cancer. This case study aims aim to facilitate the development of competencies that reflect the role of the Specialist Cancer Nurse (SCN) in ensuring a coordinated approach to care planning, implementation and evaluation across the cancer journey for people affected by head and neck cancer.

The case study contains five sections:

• Reduce risk
• Find the condition early
• Have the best treatment and support during active treatment
• Have the best treatment and support between and after active treatment
• Have the best care at the end of life.

This online resource provides education and training to staff from specialist palliative care services, general practice and cancer centres (including palliative care physicians, nurses, medical and radiation oncologists, haematologists, social workers, GPs and practice nurses) to assist in implementing the Palliative Care Needs Assessment Guidelines and the Needs Assessment Tool: Progressive Disease - Cancer (NAT:PD-C) within their own clinical settings.

Case scenarios and videos of simulated consultations are available to support training; and links to general information about palliative care and cancer, as well as information about finding services to manage unmet needs is also available. Further information about this training resource is available on the Coordination of Care resources page.

Toolkit, information and resources that health professionals can provide to newly diagnoses patients to guide them through the physical, emotional and financial challenges of the cancer journey. Includes FAQ and introductory video.

The toolkit was derived from a pilot project conducted in Western Australia by Professor Moyez Jiwa and his team at the Curtin University of Technology. The pilot involved recruitment of GPs and specialists in Albany and Perth. The project used a process of review and feedback to rate the importance of a range of information in letters regarding colorectal, breast, urological, gynaecological, upper gastroenterology and respiratory cancers.

The result is a checklist of information that the group of GPs and specialists consider to be of importance in providing treatment and care. This toolkit is designed to be used by health service professionals who are able to enlist general practitioners and specialists in their area to participate. It is designed for use by relatively small groups of practitioners (up to 15 participants).

Pathways for Patient Safety are a series of Web tools you can use to increase awareness, knowledge and implementation of best practices for reducing the risk of patient harm in physician practices.

The modules are:

• Working as a Team - outlines actions required for building high-performing patient safety teams and techniques for effective communications among care givers to reduce patient harm
• Assessing Where You Stand - provides practical steps toward minimizing medical errors by assessing current patient-safety procedures, addressing practice culture and setting goals
• Creating Medication Safety - describes factors practices should consider when implementing or augmenting a medical reconciliation process, and when prescribing or administering medications that may be harmful to patients.

The Physician Practice Patient Safety Assessment® (PPPSA) is a self-assessment tool that helps physician practices evaluate their patient-safety processes and detect areas for improvement. PPPSA is designed to:enhance physician awareness of patient safety; heighten provider knowledge of characteristics that make a practice safer; and create baseline comparisons for practices to use to enhance and support patient safety.

The tool can be used by physicians to provide safer and better care, reduce liability and facilitate conversation among staff to identify opportunities for increasing patient safety in areas regarding:

• medication safety
• patient handoffs and transitions
• surgery and invasive procedures; personnel qualifications and competency
• practice management and culture
• patient education and communication.