6. Are the key members of the team, as described in the Manual of Cancer Standards, able to attend the meetings?

Core members or their cover should be available to attend the majority of meetings. There should be a named lead clinician, named members including consultant, oncologist, nurse, MDT meeting co-ordinator, lead pathologist and lead imaging consultant.

• Members to be represented while on leave.
• Frequency of meetings to be agreed and attendance recorded for each meeting.
• Telemedicine or video conferencing could be considered if members have difficulty accessing the meeting.
• There has to be recognition of time constraints on team members and the need to build the commitment into job plans for those who have to attend many MDT meetings i.e. radiologists, pathologists and oncologists.
• Time is needed for preparation, review and sorting extra requests.

The extended team could include palliative care, psychologist, social worker, other Allied Health Professionals. Attendance of the extended team should also be recorded.

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