History
Asklepios Klinik Altona (AKA) is one of the largest public hospitals of maximum care in Hamburg, containing more than 800 patient beds and 31 wards.
Since 2005 AKA is managed by the Asklepios group.
Profile
AKA Department of Medical Oncology, with Sections Hematology, Rheumatology, and Palliative Care runs 25 beds for patients with haematological malignancies, 16-20 for patients with solid tumours and 5-10 for rheumatology. This is accompanied by an outpatient oncology clinic. Since January 2014, a designated Palliative Care Unit (11 beds) has been established.
AKA is a core member of the Asklepios Tumorzentrum Hamburg. The Asklepios Tumorzentrum Hamburg (ATZHH) which is a network cancer centre, consists of 7 hospitals and 6 outpatient cancer clinics of the Asklepios Kliniken Hamburg. In the network of ATZHH, more than 16.500 patients are newly diagnosed and/or newly treated, representing more than 42% of all cancer patients in the region of Hamburg (with almost 2 million inhabitants and about 4.5 million inhabitants in the metropolitan region catchment area). This makes the ATZHH the largest healthcare provider for cancer medicine in the public healthcare service in the metropolitan region.
Specialities
ATZHH organises its cancer care in 16 interdisciplinary Disease Management Programmes, 3 of them across tumour entities (Palliative and Supportive Care, Psycho-Oncology, and Rehabilitation). All of those develop and establish common therapeutic standards, patient guidelines, research activities (joint clinical trial and translational research programmes), programmes in education and qualification, as well as in public awareness, and outreach activities, in cooperation with other providers.
For rehabilitation, a close cooperation and patient exchange is now established with two dedicated specialist rehabilitation hospitals providing special programmes for cancer patients in curative and palliative setting. New in 2023, one of the rehabilitation centres established a specialised intervention programme for adolescents and young adults (25-39 years).
Biannualy ATZHH organises the second largest cancer conference in Germany with an action day for patients and relatives to meet with experts, covering patient centered topics as palliative care, euthanasia, fatigue, sexuality, nutrition, complementary medicine, long term sequelae and others.
Newly established, ATZHH coordinates now a biweekly specialised Palliative Care Tumour Board – as hybrid conference, for all sites and departments treating cancer patients. There therapy limitations can be discussed in a broad round of palliative care specialists and end of life decisions are made.
There is a close relationship with the approx. 20 cancer patient advocacy groups around Hamburg within a new established project group “Self-Help goes ATZHH”.
Palliative and Supportive Care
The ATZHH network consists now of 6 specialist units for palliative care, 3 sites have additional mobile multiprofessional palliative care teams. A total of 33 board-certified specialists with different co-specialisations form the professional network. At all 6 sites, specialised supplementary care facilities are provided: nutrition counselling, wound management, aromatherapy, art and music therapy, palliative biographic work, familial care, and a therapy dog at 1 site, next to psycho-oncological service, pastoral work, physical and occupational therapy as well as social counselling and pain management are established. Several ambulatory consultation hours for patients and family care givers as well as grief groups do exist within the center.
Together with the oncology care teams, the palliative care staff implement an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to understanding and treating patients in need for symptom-oriented disease management and terminal stage patients. The service aims to bring together various professionals from inside as well as from outside the hospitals.
Last update: January 2025
