Patients | More likely to receive guideline concordant treatment [9, 11, 38] | Potential for delays if inadequate information available for discussion |
| More likely to receive any treatment [37–41] | |
| Probable reduction in time from diagnosis to treatment [30, 38] | Delays for some patients if initial treatment plan not appropriate [42] |
| Possible improvement in quality of life with more palliative care [41] | |
Clinicians | Protected time for discussion of complex patients | Time required for meetings plus meeting preparation and travel |
| Improved communication between MDT members | |
| May improve communication with GPs | Potential conflicts of opinion with other members |
| Back-up when management deviates from guidelines | Medico-legal concerns over team-based decisions [43] |
| Opportunity for education and to keep up to date with new developments | Potential for deskilling through over-reliance on MDT for decisions |
| Means of maintaining high standard of service by identifying areas for improvement [44, 45] | |
| Improved job satisfaction [46, 47] | |
Community | Facilitates identification of cases and data collection for epidemiological research [7] | Financial costs |
| Increase number of patients entered into clinical trials [31, 48] | |
| May reduce inequalities in access to treatment | |
| Facilitates monitoring of performance [45] | |