Forty Dutch hospitals do not meet the European guidelines for breast cancer care. This was revealed by a study by Nieuwsuur. How bad is that?
Too few patients
The European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA) has developed guidelines to improve breast cancer care in Europe and around the world. The guideline that forty Dutch hospitals do not comply with is that they treat too few patients with breast cancer each year.
Lower limit
A hospital must treat at least 150 patients with breast cancer per year. The more often you do something, the better you get at it, says Femke Welles of the KWF. Forty hospitals do not achieve 150 treatments per year. Fifteen hospitals even treated fewer than 100 patients in a year. If a hospital treats too few patients, the quality of breast cancer care would deteriorate.
Proponents
Proponents of the directive advocate specialized cancer hospitals. EUSOMA is surprised that all hospitals in the Netherlands are doing 'a little'. A hospital must treat at least 150 new breast cancer patients every year to be able to provide good care. The KWF calls on health insurers not to contract hospitals that treat fewer than 100 patients per year.
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital
The Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital is one of the few specialized cancer centers in the Netherlands. Since 2004 they have been in favor of the concentration of cancer care. Ideally, 20 to 30 centers should remain, instead of treatment in over 90 hospitals.
Opponents
The National Breast Cancer Consultation in the Netherlands does not necessarily agree with the guideline. It is mainly about the cutting skills of a surgeon. A surgeon who works full-time also does surgery other than breast cancer.
What do you think:should as many Dutch hospitals as possible offer care to breast cancer patients or should there be a number of specialist centers?
