“Oncology care is network care,” said oncology surgeon Geert Kazemier, one of the initiators and the first chairman of the new club. "More and more people are getting cancer, costs are rising and staff shortages are increasing. Working together in regional networks contributes to good, accessible and affordable care for people with cancer, now and in the future."
Exchange and strengthening
Oncologienetwerken Nederland sees itself explicitly as a platform for mutual exchange and strengthening. It encourages regional oncology networks to look into each other's work. "How can we maintain or further improve quality? How do we cooperate optimally in the region? How do we bind our professionals? We look at where certain things are very well organized and how we can adopt those great examples in other regions or for other tumor types. In some areas, we may need to develop and try out solutions. We tackle this in a practical and result-oriented way, of course with a lot of attention to support, connection and reflection so that it also sticks,” Kazemier said.
Passende oncologische zorg (Suitable oncology care)
The mission of Oncologienetwerken Nederland fits seamlessly with the Integral Care Agreement (IZA), which, with the core concept of "passende zorg,” is currently driving major changes in healthcare. The new platform can contribute a lot to this, the chairman believes: “ Passende zorg (Suitable care) is exactly what we are committed to. The regional oncology networks must put passende zorg into practice and our platform is ready to contribute to that. In doing so, we will present the nuanced sound of the different regions with their individuality and special characteristics. In and around the big cities you often have a clustering of hospitals that serve a lot of patients, elsewhere you see sparsely populated areas with large distances between hospitals. You have to respond well to that in the desired changes, because one size fits all, that's not going to work."
Board
The initiative to establish Oncologienetwerken Nederland was taken more than a year and a half ago. During several lively and well-attended meetings for and by the regional oncology networks it became clear that the support for establishing such a platform is great. Formal agreements are now being worked on. Until these are in place, the initiators will form the first board. Oncologienetwerken Nederland is supported by IKNL, integraal kankercentrum Nederland (integral cancer center Netherlands).
The board of Oncologienetwerken Nederland consists of:
- Geert Kazemier (pictured above), oncology surgeon Amsterdam UMC Cancer Center Amsterdam and chairman of regional oncology network OncoNoVo+
- Ester Siemerink, internist-oncologist Hospital Group Twente, member oncology network ONZ
- Annemieke Thijssen, MDL physician Albert Schweitzer Hospital and chair of regional oncology network Concord
- Haiko Bloemendal, internist-oncologist Radboudumc and chairman of regional oncology network OncoOost
This article was translated from: Nieuw platform ziet het licht: Oncologienetwerken Nederland (tulpintranet.nl)