About Advanced GI Surgical Program

Established in 2017, the Advanced Gastrointestinal Surgical Program (AGISP) is a novel program at Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) Hospital, Sydney. The program was established to oversee the four specialised advanced gastrointestinal (GI) surgical services offered at RPA. The Advanced GI Surgical Service within RPA provides expert, specialised clinical care to patients who require highly complex medical and surgical care.

• Pelvic Exenteration Surgery
• Peritoneal Malignancy surgery (including peritonectomy)
• Advanced Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery
• Retroperitoneal Sarcoma

The program oversees multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings for each advanced surgical service, an AGISP steering committee and an AGISP Nursing Training program.

For more information about the structure of the program please see our governance structure.

Research

Each of the specialised services within the AGISP has dedicated research programs. For more information about the current research being undertaken in these area please see the below pages.

• Pelvic Exenteration Research
• Peritoneal Malignancy
• Retroperitoneal Sarcoma
• Advanced Upper GI Malignancy Research

Multi-Disciplinary Meeting

A Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) is a group of different specialist clinical staff who manage the coordination, care and assessment of patient’s available treatment options. The team is made up of medical staff, nursing and allied health staff.

MDT meetings are held for each of the advanced GI surgical services.

The meetings occur fortnightly and each patient’s case is discussed along with their scans (radiology) and a comprehensive overview of their diagnosis and history. The team will then discuss all available treatment options and develop a care pathway for each patient. This is then relayed back to the referring doctor and the patient. The MDT Meetings are a pivotal aspect of patient's care and play an important role in developing the best treatment plan for each patient.

The following staff attend a MDT:

• Surgeons
• Nurse care coordinators
• Medical oncologists
• Radiation oncologists
• Radiologist
• Stomal therapy nurses
• Dietician
• Physiotherapy
• Social workers
• Psychologists
• Pathologist
• Palliative care physicians
• Psychiatrists