History
Our Oncology Department covers one of the largest metropolitan areas in Portugal serving around 600,000 official inhabitants, in addition to a community of around 100,000 asylum seekers, and 1,200 newly diagnosed cancer patients each year.
Profile
Founded in 2011, the Palliative Care Team has always been integrated into the daily oncological management of advanced cancer patients. Since 2016, the Palliative Care Team has been located within the Outpatient Oncology Clinic, enabling close working between both teams and facilitating an urgent symptomatic approach to patient care.
Specialities
All cancers are addressed except haematological, melanoma, thyroid and paediatric.
Palliative and Supportive Care
Once palliative care needs are identified, whether by appointment, phone monitoring or via multidisciplinary therapeutic decision meetings, patients can be referred to the Palliative Care Team either in person, by phone or web form. The palliative care and oncology teams work together to care for patients, being collocated supports easy communication. There are weekly meetings to discuss the most complex cases or those that require more specific approaches. The initial assessment of the patient usually consists of a joint medical and nursing consultation. All palliative care patients have access to phone monitoring and multidisciplinary team support (nurse, doctor, psychologist, social worker) whenever they feel uncontrolled symptoms or new specific problems.
Last update: December 2024
