History
The CUF Porto Hospital has a cancer centre - CUF Instituto de Oncologia - since the overture, in 2010, committed in clinical care of outpatients and inpatients with solid tumours and haematological malignancies. Since then, all the patients have been supported by the department staff that worked closely with other specialities in a multidisciplinary way.
In 2014, was set up a dedicated area to palliative care with a specialised team ensuring support care to inpatients and outpatients with chronic and progressive malignant diseases, during the different stages of their illness, going through chemotherapy treatment or not.
Profile
The Oncology and Palliative Care Department is committed in clinical care of adult patients with solid tumours or haematological malignancies. All the patients, benefiting or not from no longer anti-tumour interventions, are cared by the Palliative Care team. The facilities of the centre include a fully staffed outpatient clinic for administration of cancer therapies and a fully staffed Palliative Care Unit.
The cancer centre staff works closely with other specialists to ensure patient care and multidisciplinarity, with a more regularly support by Psycho-Oncology, Nutrition and Physiotherapy.
The cancer centre also emphasises clinical research and teaching (pre-and post-graduation nurses and post-graduation residences).
A Palliative Care consultation is also available in the centre.
Palliative Care team also provides support to patients family and caregivers.
Specialities
The Oncology and Palliative Care Department is committed to treat all the patients with oncologic malignancies, giving them an integrated, comprehensive and humanised reply.
From all the diagnoses, lung cancer is by far the most frequent one what makes the palliative care team staff to have a great experience of treating patients with this malignancy.
The centre is also involved in clinical trials, but palliative care team staff has by now an interest in bereavement, with two prospective studies in this area.
Palliative and Supportive Care
The Palliative Care Unit is committed in treating all the patients with chronic and progressive malignant diseases, in any stage of their illness, going through chemotherapy treatment or not, with a 24 hours/365 days admission policy.
The patients in the Palliative Care Unit are under the clinical responsibility of the Palliative Care team; however, Oncologists and all other specialists have their place as active team consultants, according to an interdisciplinary work.
All the patients have a continuity of care service until death, as well as families in bereavement: all the outpatients are allowed to contact by phone whenever needed (an after-hours nursing telephone triage service provides patient/family professional specialised support); for all the inpatients in the Palliative Care Unit, the hospital discharge is prepared in advance, so patient and family may assure of proper follow-up (private support services engagement or national health system support, according to their will).
Last update: December 2022
