A call is open until 5 May for specialist facilities to start implementing a new model of care for patients with colorectal cancer. The most important change is that the patient's treatment will be coordinated from diagnosis, through treatment, psychological support and finally monitoring of the patient's condition after cancer.
- We are introducing a comprehensive oncology care model for patients with colorectal cancer, says Deputy Health Minister Slawomir Gadomski. - In 2019, we began to introduce a coordinated model of oncological care by launching the first specialised Breast Cancer Units, i.e. facilities where breast cancer patients are provided with diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and psychological support. Now colorectal cancer patients will be able to benefit from such comprehensive care, but this is not the end of the story. We are working on developing a model for further Cancer Units: for lung malignancies, as well as gynaecological and urological cancers.
Comprehensive care of patients will be provided by specialised units. In the units responsible for coordinating the diagnostic and therapeutic process, coordinators will be appointed to oversee the diagnostic and treatment plan for a particular patient. It will be up to the coordinator, for example, to schedule appointments and treatments so that the patient can receive the necessary care more quickly.
The model for comprehensive oncology care in colorectal cancer assumes that centres of competence will provide:
- the infrastructure and performance capacity to provide the necessary services for: colorectal cancer diagnosis, outpatient specialist care, inpatient treatment (surgical, systemic), health programmes (drug), radiotherapy and brachytherapy, as well as support for obtaining hospice care services;
- the possibility of performing all necessary diagnostic tests;
- coordination of the diagnostic and therapeutic process - the centre will appoint an organisational coordinator to oversee the entire diagnostic and treatment plan for a given patient; his/her tasks will include, in particular, scheduling appointments and treatments and overseeing documentation;
- multidisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic teams consisting of specialists in general surgery or oncological surgery, radiation oncology, clinical oncology, radiology and pathomorphology;
- systematic monitoring of the effects of the therapeutic process and of the patient's condition at the end of treatment.
On 9 April, two regulations of the Minister of Health on guaranteed services - in hospital treatment and outpatient specialised care - came into force. The introduced changes in the scope of guaranteed services (Journal of Laws 2020, item 542 and Journal of Laws 2021, item 543) are a continuation of the comprehensive reform in oncology, carried out by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with experts in public health, health economics and medicine. Its basis is the concept of coordinated care for oncology patients. The comprehensive care model for the next group of patients is in line with the National Cancer Strategy 2020-2030. New organisational solutions have been successively introduced to eliminate negative phenomena in oncology, such as fragmentation of care, dispersion of services and oncology centres. These have affected the quality of oncology treatment and thus patients' chances of recovering from cancer. Colorectal malignancies are the most common malignant tumours among all cancer cases in Poland. The number of deaths showed an increasing trend between 2012 and 2016. According to the National Cancer Registry, 13.4 per cent more new cases were reported in 2016 than in 2012.
Legal basis
Ordinance of the Minister of Finance of 27 March 2020 on the extension of the deadline for submission of the return on the amount of income earned (loss incurred) and payment of tax due by corporate income taxpayers OJ. 2020 item 542
Ordinance of the Minister of Health of 11 March 2021 amending the Ordinance on guaranteed services in the field of outpatient specialised care OJ. 2021 item 543
[source: www.gov.pl]