Guidance and resources

Links to guidance or resources that Te Aho o Te Kahu has developed with or for the health sector that relate to cancer. These include business rules, data standards, multi-disciplinary guidelines and quality statements.

Cancer Multidisciplinary Meeting (MDM) Data Standard HISO 10038.4:2021

These standards outline the nationally agreed data elements for capturing patient and cancer information to support the MDM process. The data standard aims to support Te Aho o Te Kahu and the Ministry of Health’s vision to accelerate the shift to a fully interoperable digital health ecosystem.

For the purposes of this data standard, the MDM process refers to referral information, pathology and radiology review, MDM decisions, recommendations and administrative processes. The data items are organised into sections representing the different categories of information collected or generated during the MDM process.

This document also identifies the mandatory fields required for consistent, accessible and accurate data to support informed and equitable decision-making during an MDM and to record final recommendations. The final recommendations may change due to additional information and/or discussions between the patient and lead clinician. Te Aho o Te Kahu, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and health sector, will ensure the data standard is reviewed and updated as required through the existing HISO process.

Cancer Multidisciplinary Meeting Data Standard HISO 10038.4:2021 (PDF 999KB)

Standards for high-quality cancer Multidisciplinary Meetings (MDMs) in Aotearoa New Zealand - March 2024

Multidisciplinary Meetings (MDMs) are an important component of quality cancer care. These meetings are where health professionals review and discuss all the clinical, psychosocial, and cultural information about a patient, and recommend personalised treatment and care options based on the person's needs and best practice cancer treatment pathways.

Effective meetings will help improve the quality of cancer care people receive and their health outcomes, including some the benefits listed below:

improved treatment planning as health professionals consider the full range of therapeutic options available
reduce health inequities experienced by Māori, Pacific peoples, people living rurally and other priority patients using a person-centred framework
improved communication between care providers as clear lines of responsibility are developed between members of the MDM
improved service coordination
greater continuity of care and less duplication of services
more patients being offered the opportunity to take part in relevant clinical trials
enabling clinicians to share and discuss latest evidence and/or approaches to increase skills and knowledge.

The standards reset the direction of MDMs in Aotearoa and provide detailed best practice requirements for MDM governance, resourcing, processes and data. The information can be used by a range of individuals / organisations to improve the efficiency and quality of MDMs, including:

Health professionals who run and/or participate in MDMs
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora hospital and health service operational leads who are responsible for ensuring that individual MDMs are supported and managed appropriately
National organisations involved in cancer service commissioning and monitoring, and those developing models of care, including Health New Zealand and Te Aho o Te Kahu.

This is an internal guidance document for the sector.

Complex Sarcoma Services in Aotearoa, New Zealand

The complex sarcoma services document outlines a pathway to improve the quality of care, consistency, and outcomes for people who are diagnosed with sarcoma. Both adults and children may be affected by sarcomas, with paediatric sarcomas accounting for 20% of all cancers which affect young people in Aotearoa New Zealand.

It has been designed to be used in conjunction with the Optimal Cancer Care Pathways, specifically the sarcoma OCCP, OCCP Principles and OCCP Supplementary Information. When used as a quality improvement tool the complex sarcoma service document and optimal cancer care pathway will promote help the design and planning processes to provide nationally coordinated and consistent levels of service across Aotearoa. They aim to ensure the efficient and sustainable best-practice management of sarcomas, with a focus on addressing inequities people experience in accessing sarcoma care and services.

For people and whānau, treatment closer to home is the ideal aim. However, treatment may require attending more than one service which may require additional travel, accommodation and/or time off work for the patient and their whānau.

To provide services closer to home requires a broader range of infrastructure and resources compared to less complex conditions. Therefore, it is essential to use a well-resourced, multidisciplinary approach that is both nationally consistent and regionally focused, which can be guided by the Complex Sarcoma Services in Aotearoa document.

Thank you to the many clinical experts listed in the document below for sharing their valuable time and expertise who helped shape the key steps needed to develop more optimal and sustainable sarcoma services across New Zealand over time.

Complex Sarcoma Services in Aotearoa, New Zealand (PDF 918KB)

Optimal Cancer Care Pathways

On 22 July 2025, we published 16 Optimal Cancer Care Pathways (OCCPs) for eight solid tumours and eight blood cancers that affect people in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The OCCPs are pathways that describe contemporary best practice for the delivery of optimal cancer care by tumour type. Each OCCP has been designed in partnership with the sector:

with the needs of the person and their whānau (family) at the heart
to reflect the best service capabilities available in New Zealand
to provide a national expectation of equitable, high-quality, timely, and evidence-based cancer prevention and care for all New Zealanders.

The OCCPs include a:

Principles document which outlines the eight principles on which each OCCP is built
Supplementary Information document which includes additional information on: achieving Pae Ora; equity and whānau insights; Person/ Whānau questions; definitions; tumour volumes; OCCP tumour references and bibliographies
Pathway document relating to a specific type of cancer.

You can read these documents under the Our Work section on this website.

Quality Statements to Guide Melanoma Diagnosis and Care in New Zealand - developed by the National Melanoma Working Group (NMWG) and MelNet

These statements describe what quality care for melanoma should look like in Aotearoa | New Zealand based on current global best practice and will inform efforts to reduce the incidence and improve outcomes for melanoma patients and their families.

The statements were developed in partnership with a wide range of sector experts and key stakeholders, including Te Aho o Te Kahu. We acknowledge the Quality Statements to Guide Melanoma Diagnosis and Care in New Zealand and support their use as a tool to guide clinical decision-making and promote best practice melanoma management in Aotearoa | New Zealand. We played a key role in completing the first edition and remained involved on subsequent editions.

To read the Quality Statements to Guide Melanoma Diagnosis and Care in New Zealand please visit the MelNet website: www.melnet.org.nz.

Radiation Oncology Waitlist Data - Business Rules

Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora’s National Radiation Oncology Group developed business rules to support the consistent management and monitoring of referrals to public radiation oncology services. We would like to thank Te Aho o Te Kahu Cancer Control Agency’s [Radiation Oncology Working Group (ROWG) who provided information and endorsed these business rules.

A person is referred to a radiation oncologist/service who will develop a specific radiation therapy schedule to destroy or reduce the growth of cancer cells or relieve the individual’s cancer symptoms. Radiation therapy uses radiation beams or x-rays to damage cancer cells while limiting any effects to the healthy cells.

You can read the business rules on the ‘clinical guidance web section of the Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora website.

Update on Polyp Surveillance Guidelines 2020

This document is based on current available evidence for surveillance after a colonoscopy and complete removal of adenomas and serrated polyps. This advice aligns with recent publications from the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and Europe.