gms | German Medical Science

The care and the therapy of patients with a neoplasia of head and neck should not be addicted to the chosen clinic but to the valid standards.

At our clinic ca.120 patients with a newly diagnosed neoplasia of head and neck are treated every year. In the context of the tumour after-care ca. 800 patients are looked after.

For the better standardization of the diagnostics and therapy the aim was set to the certification to a head and neck module in the context of a certified Head and Neck Cancer Centre. The successful audit took place in August 2011.

We would like to represent our first experiences at work in a certified Head and Neck Cancer Centre after this time. We do not want to mention only advantages and improvements but also disadvantages and look critically for optimization points.

In the context of the certification an interdisciplinary head and neck tumorboard, in which patients pre- and post therapeutically are discussed, was established.

The work has in addition changed drastically on ward and in the operating theatre with regard to standardized documentation and workflows.

Beside the improvement in the documentation one can, however, watch an increased documentation effort.

We can summarize that at our clinic the quality of the treatment of patients with a head and neck tumour has further consolidated and increased by the certification to a Head and Neck Cancer Centre.