The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, and the Minister of Health, Esther Monzón, presented this Friday morning the project of home administration of antineoplastic drugs, which will be developed in collaboration with public hospitals and the Canary Islands Health Research Institute (IISC), attached to the Canary Health Service (SCS).
The president stressed that this project "allows us to take a giant step in the humanization of public health care." In this sense, he added that the main objective is to implement a home administration model of antineoplastic drugs so that a safe and efficient alternative is provided for cancer patients and other pathologies that require highly complex and long-lasting treatments, thus reducing the impact on the daily lives of patients and improving the quality of life.
Fernando Clavijo stressed that the Canary Islands is the first autonomous community in the State to launch a project of these characteristics, in a centralized manner, which has a direct impact on the improvement of the service portfolio and patient care. "Until now there have been similar projects, but in a single hospital or with a single drug, but we have achieved the homogenization of the Canarian patient regardless of the hospital in which they are treated," said the president.
The Minister of Health stressed that this service offers a safe and efficient alternative for certain cancer patients who require highly complex treatments, distributed in cycles, which makes them long-term administration. "We have taken advantage of the original experience of the Doctor Negrín University Hospital of Gran Canaria, a pioneer in Home Hospitalization and which has been administering treatments, including antineoplastic drugs, in patients' homes for years to promote it to the rest of the centers," he said. In this case, according to him, "it is the Oncology services that will train their professionals for home care and will decide the candidate patients due to their clinical situation to receive it in the hospital or at home," he added.
Piloting
In this sense, he stressed that the project starts with the solidity offered by the pilot carried out for two months at the University Hospital of the Canary Islands. This hospital started in December and in these months 80 patients from that hospital have already benefited. With this background, in March it will begin to be administered in all centers equally and under the same protocol, coordinated by the Canary Islands Health Research Institute (IISC). In a second phase, in this same year, once evaluated at a general level, it will also begin in the non-capital islands. In addition, he added that for the start-up of the project, the collaboration of the pharmaceutical industry has been counted on, with the Roche laboratory being the first to participate.
For her part, the Minister of Health assured that "this project represents an advance in more personalized care that improves the quality of life of patients and is emerging as an innovative model that consolidates a safer and more sustainable care system." In addition, she explained that the home administration model involves giving people with cancer more individualized and multidisciplinary care, given that "professionals from Oncology, Hospital Pharmacy, Nursing and technical support teams participate in these services, which allows offering a more humanized care environment adapted to personal needs."
The scientific director of the IISC, Fernando Gutiérrez, recalled that these treatments are part of the portfolio of services of the hospitals and that it requires patients to travel daily to their hospital and stressed that this project "will transform the way in which Canarian Health faces oncological treatment." He also added that it will also allow "to remove from the patient that feeling of illness."
From now on, the first sessions will be offered in the hospital until the doctor responsible for the patient verifies the tolerance and effectiveness of the treatment and once the pattern has stabilized, the patient will continue the treatment at home, provided that the doctor and the patient consider it.
Gutiérrez stated that advances in medical and pharmacological technology, such as subcutaneous biological treatments, have expanded the options for home cancer treatment, "which gives the opportunity to offer patients safe outpatient and home treatment in their home," he explained.
Greater satisfaction for patients
The administration of antineoplastic drugs in the patients' homes has an impact on greater satisfaction for these people, since they remain in their private and family environment and, in addition, reduces the risks of nosocomial infections. These patients experience less physical and emotional stress, which results in an improvement in their quality of life.
The manager of the Doctor Negrín Hospital, Miguel Ponce, explained the experience in this regard that his hospital has had through the Home Hospitalization service that began the administration of chemotherapy at home in 2018. According to him, "the comfort and flexibility of receiving treatment at home has been shown to improve patients' adherence to the prescribed treatment, which translates into favorable clinical results."
In the implementation and development of this project, the professional group of Nursing plays a fundamental role, since it highlights the positive impact of these professionals on the quality of life of patients with cancer, guaranteeing the success of the home administration of antineoplastic treatments. "Nurses will be a key piece, together with medical oncologists, in personalized and humanized care, monitoring and follow-up, prevention of infections and multidisciplinary coordination," concluded Monzón.
