The RALLC service was established to address the linear and often fragmented, uncoordinated care delivery in lung cancer referral, diagnosis and treatment. The RALLC team comprises of lung cancer coordinator Kathy McCann, medical oncologists Associate Professor Wasek Faisal and team, respiratory physicians Dr Damoon Entersari-tatafi and team, and thoracic surgeons Dr David Low and team). 

The service is led by A/Prof Faisal, who is the Clinical and Research Lead for thoracic oncology at Grampians Health. 

With over 23 years’ experience in the medical field and more than 12 in medical oncology, A/Prof Faisal has been a principal investigator running clinical trials at Grampians Health for over eight years and is always looking for the next innovation in his area. 

“I treat solid cancers, with my area of expertise being lung cancers and rare tumours,” A/Prof Faisal said. 

“These types of cancers can be aggressive and invasive. It's important that we keep researching and finding ways to improve patient lives.” 

Ms McCann has been coordinating the clinic since its instigation in 2017. The RALLC clinic is designed to streamline a patients journey with the hospital system. 

“When a person is faced with the potential diagnosis of lung cancer, it can be a stressful and anxious time. I help guide and support our patients through the daunting process of navigating their cancer diagnosis and treatment,” Ms McCann said. “In the background, I work hard to advocate for the patient and to ensure that we are able to determine their diagnosis as soon as possible.” 

The clinic is leading the way in working with cancer patients, from diagnosis through to treatment, at Grampians Health and has the potential to go further. 

“We are not too far off from our aspiration of being a lung cancer centre of excellence in Victoria,” said Professor Matthew Hadfield, Grampians Health’s Chief Medical Officer. 

The RALLC model has essentially changed the lung cancer service delivery at Grampians Health from reactive to proactive. This means patients have a centralized referral pathway and referral criteria, where referrals are triaged by an oncologist and lung coordinator, followed by pre-emptive investigations and multidisciplinary review on the same day at the clinic, to formulate a management plan. This is a unique approach, which improves the timeliness to care and subsequently, patient satisfaction and clinical outcome. 

“We have shown we can hold our own against some of the major metropolitan cancer centres, but there are areas, especially around our assessments of the whole patient, where we are leading the way in."