History
The Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland (IOSI) is a small cancer centre located in Southern Switzerland (Cantone Ticino). It is constituted of a broad spectrum of departments and activities ranking from basic to clinical research (phase I studies, national and international cancer trials) to clinical activities (haemato-oncology, medical oncology, radiation oncology and palliative care).
The Palliative and Supportive Care Clinic (CCPS) operates both inpatient-and outpatient units, located in the main facilities in Bellinzona and Lugano and three other outpatient-units situated in three different hospitals of Southern Switzerland (Lugano, Mendrisio and Locarno).
IOSI has four fully interconnected units: oncology, haemato-oncology, radiation oncology and palliative care. The Palliative and Supportive Care Clinic represents a fully independent unit regarding human resources and logistics. It offers care to patients with three main areas of activity: two acute hospital units, a mobile team and outpatient clinic. The two palliative care units consist of 7 fully dedicated beds for in-patient treatment in Bellinzona and 10 fully dedicated beds in Lugano. The interdisciplinary mobile teams (composed by doctors and nurses) provide consultations to patients hospitalised in the public hospitals of Southern Switzerland, including the onco-haematology inpatient unit located in Bellinzona hospital.
Profile
The mobile interdisciplinary palliative care team consists of mobile teams operating in public hospitals in Southern Switzerland.
Our medical team consists of 9 physicians: PD Dr. med. Claudia Gamondi is currently the head of the clinic. A dedicated specialised nursing team consists of 40 nurses, active in all settings of care.
Inter- and multidisciplinary work: managed by a team with inter- and multidisciplinary expertise, palliative care is expressed through teamwork, where different skills come together first in a plan and then in a concrete shared program of care. This way of approaching the patient and his or her complexity makes it possible to ensure that all of the individual's needs are covered. It is recognised that teamwork generally offers more opportunities for the realisation of ambitious goals; moreover, although we do not yet have definitive proof of this pending conclusive studies, it is hypothesised that this mode of work may contribute, at least in part, to cost containment.
Our multidisciplinary and specialised team is based on:
- Physicians
- Nurses
- Social workers
- Physiotherapists
- Dieticians
- Psycho-oncologists
- Spiritual care consultants
- Volunteers
- Clown Doctors
Specialities
Patients followed by the Palliative and Supportive Care Clinic (CCPS) have access to many different services provided by the Institute and general hospital, such as:
- All internal medicine and surgical services (gastroenterology, pneumology, nephrology, visceral and thoracic surgery, gynaecology, head&neck medicine)
- Neurosciences: neurosurgery, neurology
- Psychosocial specialties: psycho-oncology, social workers
- Health care services: physiotherapy, ergotherapy, nutritional counselling and therapy
- Alternative and complementary medicine: Traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture
- Spiritual issues: chaplaincy, spiritual support
- As well as all of the usual medical, technical equipment
Furthermore, CCPS collaborates for teaching and research purposes with the following Institutions in Switzerland and abroad:
- Service de Soins Palliatif et de Support, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) (Lausanne, CH)
- Service de Médecine Palliative, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG) (Genève, CH)
- Palliative Care PhD, Lancaster University (Lancaster, UK)
- Unità di Cure Palliative Clinica Fondazione Varini (Orselina, CH)
- Fondazione Hospice Ticino (Lugano, CH)
- Associazione Triangolo (Camorino, CH)
Palliative and Supportive Care
The 2 Palliative Care Units operate 17 beds, featuring 13 single bedrooms and 2 double bedrooms, with fully dedicated personnel with a holistic philosophy of care including a multidimensional and interdisciplinary approach to physical, psychosocial and spiritual dimensions.
The Palliative and Supportive Care Clinic also comprises of mobile teams (teams composed by a physician and a nurse) for the consultation of patients in all departments of the institute and all public hospitals in our geographical area (mainly in departments of internal medicine, surgery, gynaecology and urology).
Last update: January 2024
