Improving childhood cancer care in South Africa using the Paediatric Oncology Facility Integrated Local Evaluation (PrOFILE) tool

Aim Using the St. Jude Paediatric Oncology Facility Integrated Local Evaluation (PrOFILE) tool, the South African Association of Paediatric Haematology Oncology (SAAPHO) collaborated with St Jude Children’s Research Hospital to evaluate the delivery of health services and provide evidence-based assessments to inform and prioritise action plans to improve childhood cancer care. Methods PrOFILE was used to assess paediatric oncology care in thirteen public-sector hospitals comprehensively. Following that, representatives from each of the thirteen public-sector hospitals and from SAAPHO, the National Department of Health, the World Health Organization, St. Jude Global, and Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa participated in a national stakeholder prioritisation workshop. Participants were assigned one of the PrOFILE components (Context, Workforce, Diagnostics, Multidisciplinary Team, Therapy, or Patients and Outcomes), forming six working groups to assess, map, and evaluate childhood cancer topics. Using a modified implementation mapping approach and through participation in structured co-designed activities, each group designed multi-level health interventions: prioritising initiatives identified by the SAAPHO, setting goals for each priority, co-designing project-specific logic models, reviewing potential barriers to implementation, and developing a post-workshop agenda. Results Individual hospital reports and a national aggregate report were compiled to discuss opportunities and priorities. The goal of the workshop was to utilise evidence-based assessments to achieve, a) objective assessment data to inform prioritisation exercises conducted by stakeholders, and b) priorities and action plans to inform childhood cancer control activities and demonstrate national organisation, human resources capabilities, and technical support to improve childhood cancer care. Through structured discussion and voting, six priority areas were identified and assigned to working groups: redrafting the organisation’s constitution, standardising multidisciplinary reporting, developing protocols and treatment guidelines, establishing fever-management guidelines, strengthening chemotherapy safety practices, and enhancing hospital-based cancer registries. Conclusions An implementation map enabled stakeholders to develop actionable plans, the success of which is demonstrated by the active implementation of the identified priorities by the focused working groups. This could serve as a model for countries with identified priorities but need more means to implement them. Based on mapping and outputs from the PrOFILE workshop, the NDoH will facilitate the creation of a childhood cancer committee to sustain progress on the key themes and priorities identified through the PrOFILE mapping process.