Barwon South Western Regional Integrated Cancer Services (BSWRICS) is located at Barwon Health, and works in partnership with health services to promote coordinated planning, system integration and improvement of cancer services across their respective regions. BSWRICS is funded by the Department of Health and our vision is to improve patient experiences and outcomes by connecting cancer care and driving best practice.
We manage the Evaluation of Cancer Outcomes Barwon South West Registry (ECOBSW Registry), a regional dataset on diagnosis, clinical pathways and outcomes for all patients with cancer attending a hospital within the Barwon South West region. The registry supplies evidence-based data for service redesign projects.
Recent Research Highlights
- This past year has seen the ECOBSW Registry reach a major milestone, now holding a comprehensive dataset on over 20,000 people who have been diagnosed with cancer.
- ECOBSW Registry successfully granted a poster presentation at the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) 49th Annual Scientific Meeting entitled “Impact of COVID-19 on cancer notifications in the BSW region of Victoria”.
Research Areas
Providing evidence-based data to guide improvement strategies is a priority. The ECOBSW Registry, which currently holds an incredible amount of diagnostic, treatment and outcome data across 10 years for more than 19,000 newly diagnosed persons across the Barwon South West region.
This data enables analysis of treatment and care and the impact on outcomes, including optimal care pathways for the tumour streams of colorectal, lung, upper gastrointestinal, prostate and breast. The data has also supported evidence-based changes to the way care is received with focuses on waiting times for surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
For example, analysis of ECOBSW data highlighted the pressing need for radiation oncology services in Warrnambool, wellness facilities at Andrew Love Cancer Centre, and informed successful applications for funding of these essential services.
Collaborating Organisations
Research Team
Research Staff
BSWRICS
- Alison Patrick, Program Manager
- Leigh Matheson, Deputy Program Manager/ Health Information Manager
- Melody Mitchell, Data Collection Officer
- Anam Khalid, Cancer data & Information Analyst
Clinical Support Team
- Dr Graham Pitson, BSWRICS Co-Clinical Director
- Dr Theresa Hayes, BSWRICS Co-Clinical Director, South West Oncology
- A/Prof Philip Campbell, Director, Andrew Love Cancer Centre
- A/Prof Ian Collins, South West Oncology
- A/Prof Cheng-Hon Yap, Barwon Health
- Dr Karen White, St John of God Geelong
Research News
Our ECOBSW Registry goes from strength to strength and now features a staggering 10 years of complete data, representing approximately 19,000 patients. As well as collecting this data, we provided data provision and analytical support to help inform key projects that will improve outcomes for cancer patients across Victoria. These include:
- The State-wide Optimal Care Pathways project
- State-wide tumour summits and support local initiatives and interventions
- State-wide Redesign Projects
The implementation of clinical quality indicators for monitoring cancer care in regional, rural and remote areas.
Design: Retrospective data from a population-based Clinical Quality Registry for lung, colorectal, and breast cancer.
Setting: All major Health Services in the Barwon South Western Region, Victoria, Australia.
Participants: All patients diagnosed with cancer presenting to a Health Service Intervention(s)
Main Outcome Measures(s): Clinical Quality Indicators for Lung, Colorectal and Breast Cancer
Results: Clinical indicators included the following: discussion at multidisciplinary meetings, timeliness of care provided, type of care for different stages of the disease and survival outcomes. Many of the derived clinical indicator targets were reached. However, variation led to improvement in tumour stage being recorded in the medical record; improved awareness of the need for adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer; a reduction in time to treatment for lung cancer; reduced time to surgery for breast cancer; and highlighted the 30 day mortality post treatment for all of the tumour streams.
Conclusions: Clinical quality indicators allow for valuable insights into patterns of care, driving improvement in the quality of cancer care. These indicators are easily reproduced and may be of use to other cancer centres and health services.
Citation: Matheson, LM, Pitson, G, Yap, CH, Singh, M, Collins, I, Campbell, P, Patrick, A and Rogers, MJ 2021, Measuring the quality of cancer care in the Barwon South Western region, Victoria, Australia, International Journal for Quality in Health Care, vol. 33, no. 1, doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzaa145. Oxford University Press
Featured Publications
| Prostate cancer survival in South West Victoria. Natalie Chilko, Samantha Dean, Leigh Matheson, Richard Grills, Adee Davidson, Paul Kearns, David Campbell, Margaret Rogers, Ian M Collins. Australian Journal of Rural Health. May 2022. |
| Measuring the quality of cancer care in the Barwon South Western Region, Victoria, Australia. Matheson LM, Pitson G, Yap CH, Singh M, Collins I, Campbell P, Patrick A, Rogers MJ. International Journal of Quality in Health Care 2021;33(1) |
| Oral Cancer in South West Victoria. Rogers MJ, Howard B, Matheson L, Pawlak J, Smith MC, Patel A, Sim F, Mathlam M, Patrick A. Australian Journal of Nursing Oncology 2020;20(2) xx |
| MA19.11 Population based analysis of end of life treatment patterns in thoracic malignancies. Pitson G, Matheson LM, Eastman P, Rogers MJ. Journal of Thoracic Oncology 2019 14(105):S329-S330 |
| Management of neuroendocrine tumours in metropolitan and regional South West Victoria. Dean SL, Hayes T, Rogers MJ, Versace V, Collins IM. Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2019; 15(9), 104-212 Abstract 200 |
| Prostate cancer outcome disparity in South West Victoria. Dean SL, Matheson LM, Davidson AJ, Grills R, Kearns P, Campbell D, Collins IM, Rogers MJ. Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2019;15(9), 104-212 Abstract 184. |
| Improvement in early survival for cancer in the South West Victoria. Rogers MJ, Kim M, Matheson L, Riches S, Yap CH, Pitson G, Campbell P. Australian Journal of Nursing Oncology. 2019;20(2): 14-19 xx |
| Population-based analysis of radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment in the last month of life within regional Australia. Pitson G, Matheson L, Garrard B, Eastman P, Rogers M. Intern Med J 2020;50(5):596-602. |
| Use of clinical quality indicators to improve lung cancer care in a regional/rural network of health services. Kim ML, Matheson L, Garrard B, Francis M, Broad A, Malone J, Eastman P, Rogers M, Yap CH. Aust J Rural Health 2019;27(2):183-7. |
| Improvement in early survival of cancer in South West Victoria. Rogers MJ, Kim M, Matheson L, Riches S, Yap C, Pitson G, Campbell P. Aust J Nursing Oncol 2019;20(2): 14-19 |
| Influence of socioeconomic factors and distance to radiotherapy on breast-conserving surgery rates for early breast cancer in regional Australia: implications of change. [NOTE – Full text for Barwon Health staff; public can view abstract]. Collins, IM, Lum, C., Versace, VL. Asia Pac J Clin Oncol 2018 14(5):e224-e230. |
| Comparison of outcomes for cancer patients discussed and not discussed at a multidisciplinary meeting. Rogers MJ, Matheson L, Garrard B, Maher B, Cowdery S, Luo W, Reed M, Riches S, Pitson G, Ashley DM. Public Health 2017;149:74-80. |
| Cancer diagnosed in the emergency department of a regional health service. Rogers MJ, Matheson LM, Garrard B, Mukaro V, Riches S, Sheridan M, Ashley D, Pitson G. Aust J Rural Health 2016;24(6):409-14. |
| Retrospective analysis of cancer survival across South-Western Victoria in Australia. Wong SF, Matheson L, Morrissy K, Pitson G, Ashley DM, Khasraw M, Lorgelly PK, Henry MJ. Aust J Rural Health 2016;24(2):79-84. |
| Characteristics of cancer diagnoses and staging in south western Victoria: A rural perspective. [NOTE – Full text for Barwon Health staff; public can view abstract]. Banks P, Matheson LM, Morrissy K, Olesen I, Pitson G, Chapman A, Ashley DM, Henry MJ. Aust J Rural Health 2014;22(5):257-63. |
| Radiotherapy in the Barwon South Western region: A rural perspective. Henry MJ, Jones P, Morrissy K, Matheson LM, Pitson G, Healy P, Coory M, Lynch R, Chapman A, Ashley D. J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol 2014;58(5):612-7. |
| Machine-learning prediction of cancer survival: A retrospective study using electronic administrative records and a cancer registry. Gupta S, Tran T, Luo W, Phung D, Kennedy RL, Broad A, Campbell D, Kipp D, Singh M, Khasraw M, et al. BMJ Open 2014;4(3):e004007-004007. |
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Wish List
- $75,000 would fund a Research Fellowship studying Chemotherapy: a real world perspective. Chemotherapy is initially tested in clinical trials with strict guidelines and patients who fit specific criteria. In the real world, patients come with many different comorbidities and the potential for drug interactions. We would like to test whether the effectiveness of the major chemotherapy treatments meets our expectations in our population-based sample of patients with cancer.
- $75,000 would fund a Research Fellowship studying cancer diagnosis and survival trajectory. Cancer can sometimes be an acute episode or a long term battle. We would like to explore the demographic, diagnostic and treatment differences for these patients that would give us a clearer view of their predicted pathway.
- $37,000 would fund a Research Fellowship that investigates whether our older patients are receiving the treatment they deserve. We would like to explore the treatment received across the ages to see if our elderly patients are given the same choices as our younger persons.
Page last updated: December 19, 2024