History
The Martini Hospital was funded in 1991 with the fusion of two hospitals in the city of Groningen. It is a teaching hospital (583 beds), which provides both basic and highly specialised care. The hospital has determined five key topics. One of them is oncology care.
Our hospital is part of the Stichting Topklinische Ziekenhuizen (STZ): an association of tertiary medical teaching hospitals. Within the STZ there are eight specializations with an extra top clinical status resulting in a center of expertise. One of them is palliative care.
Profile
The oncology care is anchored in a seperate division of the hospital. The aim is to maintain control over the quality of the integrated care for all oncology patients. In general almost all types of cancer are treated with all available treatments and supporting modalities. A specific tumor group is formed for each tumor type. This multidisciplinary tumor group consists of all relevant disciplines and is responsible for state of the art diagnostics, treatment and support. The groups develop care pathways for all tumor types.
Delegates of all tumor types participate in a steering committee of the oncology division and together with the management team the mission and vision of the oncology care is determined.
Specialities
In our hospital almost all tumor types are treated. There are four key topics in oncology care determined: breast cancer, urogenital cancer, gastrointestinal cancer and lung cancer. For these areas we are a key player in our region and we perform studies in these types of cancer. There is a casemanager for every metastatic oncology patient. For the specified tumor types a national certificate has been assigned.
Palliative and Supportive Care
In the Netherlands, palliative care is part of general care. Complex palliative needs can be managed by the lead physician with advice from the palliative care specialists in specific circumstances. If the lead physician isn’t capable to address the palliative needs himself, the palliative care team will start support for the patient or arrange support by another specialist.
In 2002 the palliative care team is funded in our hospital, due to the awareness of the importance of palliative and supportive care for cancer patients. Our hospital was one of the first hospitals in the Netherlands with a palliative care team. The palliative care team is a multidisciplinary team of palliative nurse specialists, palliative medical specialists (oncologist and geriatrician), general practionioner, anesthesist (pain specialist), clergy, liaison nurse, social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, pharmacist, radiotherapist, neurologist and pulmonologist. Since the foundation of the palliative care team efforts are made to integrate palliative care for every cancer patient.
Besides the consultation of patients in our hospital our palliative care team participates in every care pathway for each tumor type, plays a key role in education in palliative care in the hospital and our region and participates in local, regional and national research.
Last update: Januray 2024
