Activities of the comprehensive cancer centres

Important activities coordinated by the comprehensive cancer centres are:

Consultancy services

The CCC's are responsible for ensuring the optimal dissemination of knowledge and expertise in diagnosis, treatment and patient care to health care professionals. They can call upon the services of some 400 experts from medical, nursing, psychosocial and epidemiological disciplines. One of the tasks of these consultants is advising specialists in general hospitals, thus ensuring the availability of high-quality specialised cancer care throughout the Netherlands . This interchange of knowledge usually takes place at oncology meetings, but also through new media such as mentor surgery, workshops and videoconferencing.

Working groups and guidelines

The CCC's support numerous multidisciplinary working groups and monodisciplinary networks of specialists, general practitioners, nursing home doctors, nurses and paramedics in the diagnosis, treatment, follow-up and care of cancer patients. An important task for these working groups is to develop and implement guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and care. Some of the tumorspecific guidelines have been translated into english and can be consulted at Oncoline . All guidelines in Oncoline can be consulted online, printed, saved or e-mailed and downloaded for PDA.

Organisation and quality of oncological care

The CCC's help health care professionals and institutions to improve the organisation of cancer care. To this end, the comprehensive cancer centres have developed norms, criteria and frameworks and have set them in an electronic self-evaluation guide. By using this guide, cancer care institutions can find out whether the organisation of their cancer care fulfils the quality standards. The guide also forms the basis for accreditation and peer review visits. The aim is to reach an optimum quality of comprehensive care, encompassing professional, organisational and relational aspects. To help achieve this, the CCC's offer health care professionals and institutions support in their organisation and services.

Cancer registration

The CCC's maintain a population based cancer registry in the Netherlands . This registry is an important source of information for cancer research, the planning of services, and the evaluation and implementation of guidelines.

Palliative care

The comprehensive cancer centres coördinate and support the palliative care in the Netherlands and have a specialistic consultation function available for all health professionals and institutions. They also render services in the field of education, quality improvement and implementation of outcomes of research. The comprehensive cancer centres also develop nationwide guidelines for palliative care. Some of these guidelines have been translated in English and can be consulted at Oncoline.

Other activities

The CCC's are also active in the area of rehabilitation, the evaluation of screening activities, and the support of clinical trials. In addition, they have taken the initiative in formulating a 'National Comprehensive Cancer Control Programme' that aims at achieving better fine-tuning and prioritising of activities within the field of oncology.