Brazil10 lessons learned from Covid-19 for oncology care
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has put oncology care under pressure, with tens of thousands of cancer patients across Europe seeing their diagnosis delayed or facing an impact in their treatment plans. In a new white paper, experts from Ipsen and Vintura outline ten best practices that can help oncology teams successfully navigate the crisis.
Learn, improve, act
Learn from solutions implemented up until now, improve them with the knowledge from now and act by preparing the implementation in advance.
Communicate
The biggest threat seems to be underdiagnosis and under treatment, due to too little intake into the hospital. Communicate with society, patients and health care professionals on the importance of recognising first symptoms.
Together we can do more
Establish a dialogue with the region and determine how care can be optimised within the region.
Personalise the care
Work on personalised care, on the basis of generally applicable principles of the hospital, within the indication area and for the patient.
Work from home
Focus on working from home, ensure that the infrastructure is GDPR proof, offer digital meetings and don't forget to make the occasional physical meeting possible.
Define multidisciplinary approaches
Draw up a multidisciplinary plan for the continuation of the oncology care delivery, scientific research and studies and the education.
Keep talking
Continue (or start) the knowledge exchange towards your colleagues, on practices implemented and on new innovations.
Provide confidence
The most important thing for patients is that they continue to feel safe by being close to the doctor (physically or digitally) and by being able to visit the hospital Covid-19-proof.
Explore further scenarios
Investigate the possibility of recovering vulnerable onco-patients at home after surgery in hospital and in the event of destabilisation by bringing emergency care towards the patient (in consultation with the region, home care).
Take care of the healthcare workers
People are the main resource of our health care system. Taking care of them is essential for them to keep on taking care of others.
More information? Download the Ipsen and Vintura report ‘Oncology care: Keep it going’ for details on lessons learned.
About the report
The findings and recommendations presented in the white paper are based on a literature review and expert interviews. For the literature review, the authors used multiple scientific articles and reports on Covid-19 and cancer. The interviews were conducted with physicians in the Benelux, all with a focus on one or more specialisms of oncology.
