One step closer to creating a system of inpatient care at home for children and adults with serious health problems, which either force them to go to the hospital frequently or require long-term hospitalization, the Ministry of Health believes.

Last Saturday, the Government Gazette published a ministerial decision establishing the conditions for the organization of home care in our country by hospital units – NHS reference centers, which was necessary for the launch of the program. This program has already been approved by the EU. for its financing from the Recovery Fund in the amount of 14.7 million euros with a target until the end of 2025. The plan of the Ministry of Health is to establish Reference Centers in eight hospitals in the country. Agios Savvas Oncology Hospital is expected to be the first in line.

In particular, patients who are hospitalized in departments and clinics that are either designated or affiliated with home care referral centers and who meet certain criteria may continue their home hospitalization provided that conditions are similar to those of an inpatient hospital. treatment: the patient’s home is assimilated into the hospital environment. Nursing support and ongoing monitoring by the Help Center’s multidisciplinary team is required, as well as the support of caregivers, i.e. the patient’s parents or other family members, who should receive appropriate training from the attending physicians.

As described in the decision, children and adults with health problems such as chronic obstructive or restrictive respiratory diseases, rapidly or slowly progressive neurological diseases such as motor neuron disease, myasthenia gravis, cystic fibrosis, chronic heart disease, may be included in the program. failure. , cancer patients requiring specialized long-term care, and cancer patients receiving regular treatment (eg, chemotherapy, immunotherapy). The main criteria for enrolling a patient in a home care program are based on the complexity and chronicity of the disease and the need for specialized technological support. The choice of which patient can join is made by the Help Center team after assessing the suitability of the patient’s home as well as the competence of the caregiver.

It is noted that especially when prescribing oncology treatment at home, this applies to patients who will receive the first courses of chemotherapy within the inpatient structure (short-term hospitalization unit), as well as the first three cycles of immunotherapy or a biological agent.

Patients can return to the hospital at any time if their condition worsens. For to him therefore, each help center must have a department with at least two free beds, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. In each home care reference center, a scientifically responsible doctor is appointed and interdisciplinary-interdisciplinary teams are created with the ability to supervise 100-120 patients per year. All home care costs are covered by the budget of the hospital to which the referral center belongs.

According to the Ministry of Health, this is an innovative model of care in which patient care is provided at home by a team of doctors and nurses with less cost, safety, in better conditions and at a lower cost (19% to 30% lower cost than hospitalization in a hospital setting). , according to scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine).