Demonstration wards for the standardized cancer pain management in China
The campaign for establishing “Demonstration Wards for the Standardized Cancer Pain Management” was launched nationwide by the China Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2011 with an attempt to further enhance the standardized cancer management, optimize the diagnosis and treatment systems for major diseases, improve the standardized cancer pain management in tumor hospitals, and improve the quality of life of cancer patients. In accordance with the requirements of the campaign, 30 provincial health authorities recommended 90 candidate hospitals, which were further accredited by expert groups organized by MOH. Finally, 67 departments was listed as the first group of “Demonstration wards for the standardized cancer pain management” (hereafter referred to as “the demonstration wards”) (Table 1) and 20 as “Demonstration wards for the standardized cancer pain management - To Be Verified” (hereafter referred to as “the TBV wards”) (Table 2).
Full table
Full table
The MOH urges all the demonstration wards to further improve their standardized cancer pain management and serve as model institutions in this field. According to MOH, these demonstration wards should: (I) standardize their cancer pain management practices in accordance with the Guidelines on Cancer Pain Management (2011 Edition) and enhance the quality control in their healthcare services; (II) serve as model institutions and provide training on cancer pain management for local medical staff; and (III) formulate well-designed training protocols (including the recruitment of qualified teachers) to ensure the quality and effective of training. The MOH reiterated that re-accreditation will be arranged regularly, and non-eligible institutions will be removed from the list. The list has become valid since November 8, 2012 and will expire on December 31, 2014.
The MOH also hoped that all the TBV wards will further improve their work according to the campaign protocol. Verification events will be held 6 months later, and all the eligible TBV wards will finally enter the list of “Demonstration Wards for the Standardized Cancer Pain Management”.
The MOH hopes that all the provincial health authorities will, with the support of these demonstration wards, establish and optimize their regulations/policies on the standardized cancer pain management. The model roles of these demonstration wards as well as the training activities conducted by them will surely improve the cancer pain management and further standardize the clinical practices.
Acknowledgements
Disclosure: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
