Routine Patient Reported Outcome Measures for women undergoing breast cancer surgery: setting up a PROMS platform to encompass patient-centred care, health service quality improvement and research

MacHSR Future Leaders Fellowship program (2023 cohort).

In Australia the 5-year survival from breast cancer in Australia is 92% but the the real-time burden of the disease and the treatment, is not well understood or acted upon when patients may need it most. Although Patient Reported Outcomes (PROMs) has been used in specific groups of women across the Parkville Precinct, we seek to establish equitable access for all patients undergoing breast cancer treatment. We aim to use PROMS to identify areas of distress and unmet needs in real time, and in addition, set up a platform for future research and service evaluation across the Breast Service.

I hope to establish routine PROMS capture and use for all patients who have had breast surgery across the Parkville Precinct as a model for real-time intervention. I hope the fellowship will allow me to set up a program that can meet future research needs and help in the design to assess whether the program provides value-added care.