Visit the the Health Professionals section of the PICS Resources page to access documents such as professional development and care pathways.
Continued Professional Development
Face-to-face learning
We support face-to-face learning opportunities for staff from:
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The Royal Children’s Hospital
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Monash Children's Hospital (Monash Health)
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Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
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Regional shared care centres
Visit Eventbrite “PICS Study Days” for further information and to enroll for upcoming courses.
eLearning modules
Together with staff from the Royal Children’s Hospital, Monash Children's Hospital (Monash Health) and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, we have developed a range of eLearning modules for the paediatric oncology community. These modules are freely available. You can access the modules by clicking on the below headings
"I have worked with pediatric patients for 4 years and I wish I did this course 4 years ago. I think everyone who works with kids in health care should do this training. Thanks for developing a great resource."
Webinars and videos
Visit the the Health Professionals section of the PICS Resources page to access recordings from informative webinars and events.
Paediatric Oncology Nursing CPD Framework
The PICS Framework for continuing professional development for nurses working with children and adolescents with cancer has been developed to provide CPD guidance for paediatric oncology nurses.
The framework should complement health service-specific requirements for core skills and competencies, as well as standards for continuing professional development defined by the relevant nursing regulation agency. It is specific to paediatric oncology practice and is aimed at registered nurses working in paediatric oncology.
The Framework provides high-level guidance for advancing practice of the paediatric oncology workforce. Individual nurses, nurse educators and health service leaders can use the framework.
Within paediatric oncology nursing there are various career development pathways, including:
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Clinical care
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Education
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Advanced or enhanced scope of practice roles
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Research
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Leadership positions
The Framework should used within the context of each individual nurse’s scope of practice and assessed levels of competency.
Paediatric Oncology Care Pathways
Paediatric oncology care pathways are intended to guide the delivery of consistent, high-quality, evidence-based care for children and adolescents with cancer. The pathways align with key service improvement priorities including providing access to coordinated multidisciplinary care and reducing unwarranted variation in practice.
Documented care pathways map the journey for specific disease/tumour types, aiming to foster an understanding of the whole pathway and its distinct components to promote quality cancer care and patient experiences. These pathways act as a reminder that the patient and family is the constant in the care continuum and that the health system has a responsibility to deliver the care experience in an appropriate and coordinated manner.
The purpose of the paediatric oncology care pathways initiative is to improve outcomes by facilitating consistent cancer care based on a standardised pathway of care.
The Victorian paediatric oncology care pathways: Providing optimal care for children and adolescents includes the Victorian paediatric oncology care pathway fundamentals of care, applicable to all tumour streams, and the oncology care pathways for acute leukaemia, central nervous system tumours, and solid tumours.
Adolescent and Young Adult Optimal Care Pathway
The Adolescent and Young Adult Optimal Care Pathway (AYA OCP) is endorsed by Cancer Australia and the Federal Department of Health as Australia’s national pathway to guide best-practice cancer care for adolescents and young adults.
Developed by PICS and the Victorian Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer Service at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, with an expert reference group chaired by Professor Ian Olver at the University of Adelaide, the pathway guides health professionals to consider a young person with cancer not just in the context of their disease, but equally in the context of their life stage, to reduce disparity and improve outcomes and quality of care.
Health professionals can now download a detailed cancer care pathway guide and a quick reference guide via the Cancer Council website.
"This pathway will help standardise care so that wherever our adolescent and young adults with cancer enter the treatment process they will be able to access the best evidence-based care"
- Professor Ian Olver
Clinical Programs
Regional Outreach and Shared Care Program (ROSCP)
The Regional Outreach and Shared Care Program (ROSCP) facilitates the transition between the primary treating hospital and nine regional centres caring for children and adolescents with cancer. This program is supported by the Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation.
There are different levels of shared care across regional centres. Once agreement is achieved regarding the range of services and support to be offered by the regional centre, a series of educational, clinical and mentoring opportunities are implemented for medical, nursing and allied health staff. Each regional centre nominates several nurses from their paediatric ward, to be the ambassador link nurses for the program, sharing all care associated with paediatric oncology patients.
* Low complexity chemotherapy only
** Includes services such as: GCSF/ Neulasta administration, IV antibiotic therapy, pain management, IV fluids and nausea/vomiting management
Long Term Follow-up Program (LTFP)
The Long Term Follow-up Program (LTFP) supports children and adolescents with cancer treatment related late effects.
The program is accessible to all paediatric and adolescent survivors of childhood cancer living in Victoria. It provides each individual with a tailored approach to meet their ongoing needs and an appropriate transition plan to adult-based, community or hospital services. The PICS LTFP clinics are held at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Monash Children’s Hospital and at designated regional centres.
Click on the image below to learn more about the LTFP pathway. This can be a helpful resource to share with families to explain what happens after treatment finishes.
Click on the image below for a visual representation of the LTFP Model of Care
If you would like to refer a child or adolescent to the program, please use the LTFP referral form below:
Pdf version:
Word version:
LTFP Referral template (Word version September 2020)
For more information on the Long Term Follow-up Program, download the brochure for patients and families brochure below:
Service Frameworks
Our frameworks inform care pathways and scopes of practice for paediatric services in Victoria that care for cancer patients.
The latest edition of our Capability Framework for Victorian Children's Cancer Services provides a foundation to sustainable and equitable cancer care for children and adolescents across Victoria throughout their cancer journey.
You can find all of our frameworks under Health Professional Resources on our Resources page.
Data Service
Data and information systems are recognised in the Victorian Cancer Plan 2020-2024 as an essential support to the cancer care system in Victoria, to ‘assure safety and drive continuous improvements’.
As a state-wide service, the PICS are provided with routine, linked extracts of Victorian Admitted Episode Dataset (VAED) relating to cancer patient admissions, and Victorian Cancer Registry data.
We use this data to support our health service partners with:
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planning
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design
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quality and performance monitoring
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improvement initiatives.
If you have any questions, please contact us.
The Victorian Integrated Cancer Services are supported by the Victorian Government
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The Victorian Integrated Cancer Services acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders, past and present. We celebrate, value and include people of all backgrounds, genders, sexualities, cultures, bodies and abilities.