Summary
A review led by the Royal College of Radiologists recommends that formal NHS cancer multidisciplinary team meetings not be automatic for every patient. It says routine cases should be able to progress through agreed pathways, with specialist discussion focused where it adds most value.
A review led by the Royal College of Radiologists in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support recommends that formal multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings should not be automatic for every NHS cancer patient. It says routine cases should be able to move through agreed care pathways without waiting for a formal discussion, while multidisciplinary expertise should be concentrated where it adds greatest value, including for people with rare and less common cancers.
The review was commissioned as part of the government’s national cancer plan for England, published in February. Its proposed change would alter a model used in NHS cancer care for more than 30 years. The review’s stated aims are to free staff time in oncology services and reduce waiting times.
A change to the default, not the role of specialist input
MDT meetings bring multidisciplinary expertise into cancer-care planning. The review’s recommendation is to make formal discussion selective rather than routine for every patient. It says patients whose cases follow agreed pathways should be able to progress safely without waiting for the weekly meeting.
That places emphasis on directing specialist discussion to cases where it is most useful, rather than treating a formal meeting as a required step for all patients. The review specifically identifies people with rare and less common cancers as groups for whom multidisciplinary input should remain a focus.
The expected benefit is more available clinical time and less delay for patients whose care can proceed through established pathways. Those are the review’s aims; the article describes a recommendation to overhaul the model, not a change already implemented across NHS cancer services.