The Ministry of Health has developed a concept of changes in the organization of oncological care in Poland, which coordinate the treatment that has been scattered so far. There is a need for changes that would make the money spent on oncology rationally – said the head of the Ministry of Health, Łukasz Szumowski. The following are to be established: the National Oncology Council, the National Oncological Network, which is to coordinate treatment, and institutions specializing in the treatment of specific cancers.
- The Ministry of Health has developed a concept of changes in the organization of oncological care in Poland
- As indicated on Thursday by Minister of Health Łukasz Szumowski, this is, inter alia, accelerate diagnosis, improve treatment and reduce mortality. Piloting this year
The minister informed that the nine-person team to develop the concept of organization and functioning of the National Oncology Institute, appointed in March, has completed its work, and its effect is the “Concept of the organization and functioning of the National Oncological Network”. The document consists of two volumes: the first, basic, approx. 100 pages, and the second contains appendices.
The authors of the concept argue that the changes are to lead to the fastest and precise diagnosis possible, increase the detection of cancers in the early stages, proper qualification of patients to a specific treatment method and combined treatment, the use of optimal therapeutic procedures of comprehensive nature and appropriate quality, reduction of complications, introduction of uniform standards of diagnostics and treatment, regardless of the patient’s place of residence, extension of five-year survival and reduction of mortality.
On the basis of the concept, a National Oncology Network will be created and a strategy for Polish oncology will be developed. The network is to include, among others The National Oncology Council, National Coordination Centers, as well as voivodeship and university centers.
Experts point out that cancer patients require the care of many specialists to maximize their chances of survival while reducing the risk of long-term side effects. They also often require a one-off operation that should be performed as well as possible. In their opinion, the problems in oncological care in Poland can be eliminated by introducing treatment coordination.
Therefore, the concept assumes the decentralization of chemotherapy (an increase in the number of entities providing this type of services in the regions) and the decentralization of radiotherapy (new centers would be created in places where such needs exist). The centralization of oncological surgery is also planned, because – as experts argue – in this field there is so-called positive relationship between the number of operated patients in a given unit and the quality of the operation. The minister announced that the pilot project of new solutions will start this year and will cover four voivodeships.
The head of the Ministry of Health said at the conference that the analyzes show that the introduction of the oncology package led to an increase in the number of services, but at the same time dispersed oncological care among many centers, which makes it impossible to coordinate activities.
“The resources devoted to oncology have dispersed and are not being spent consistently. But most importantly, the patient is lost in this distributed care system. There is no coordination of diagnostics, there is no coordination of therapy, there is no coordination of convalescence or long-term patient care »- said the minister. He recalled that the report of the Supreme Audit Office showed that the distributed system did not provide the results in the form of faster cancer detection and faster implementation of the therapy.
According to Szumowski, there is a need for changes that would make the money spent on oncology rational and optimal. At the same time, as he noted, “something is needed that will lead the patient by the hand from diagnosis to recovery”. «The patient should not wander around in a distributed system. He should know where he has the fastest possible diagnostics, tomography, MRI. Where to go to a highly specialized center as soon as possible, where he will have chemotherapy or radiotherapy closest to his place of residence, or care for comorbidities, which, as we know, are very common in oncology »- he emphasized.
The minister emphasized that the average age of citizens in Poland is increasing, and the number of cancers increases with age. «As a result, the number of people who will develop cancer will increase over time. We must have a very efficient system and a very consistent system that will allow for faster diagnosis and faster implementation of therapy »- he emphasized.
Team leader prof. Piotr Czauderna reported that the incidence of cancer is increasing and within a dozen or so years it will be approaching 200. annually. Meanwhile, five-year survival rates are lower than the European average by 10 or even 15 percent.
The minister announced that because the vast majority of patients are treated in their voivodship, the pilot is to check how the new system will operate in such an area, what costs will be generated, and how it will affect the measures, i.e. how many patients will be diagnosed and how quickly will be diagnosed.
“We will give patients a chance to function a little guided, cared for, and ultimately of the same model and quality in all voivodeships across the country,” said the head of the Ministry of Health. He emphasized that he knows that access to all procedures in Poland is not equal, not every voivodeship has the same number of tests and therapies. “Ultimately, the network is to integrate it so that regardless of where we live, we have access to the best therapies, access to diagnostics at the same level and controlled in the same way” – he emphasized.