Novel public-private partnership contributes to the implementation of cancer control plan

Novel public-private partnership contributes to the implementation of cancer control plan
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The cancer control plan until year 2030 highlights the problem that cancer patients' pathway, which starts from cancer suspicion and extends to the post-treatment period, is not addressed in its entirety, and the patient's quality of life and satisfaction at different stages of the cancer journey are not measured. The design of patient-centred comprehensive cancer pathways is seen as a solution. “In collaboration, the lung cancer patient's journey will be mapped to find pain points and develop innovative solutions that better respond to the needs of the patient, ensure quality and continuity of care” said Made Bambus, chief specialist in the Department of Health System Development at the Ministry of Social Affairs.

To map the pathway, different methods are combined. The service design study puts a patient and carer at the heart and examines their experiences and needs at different stages of the journey and in moving from one stage to another, where the biggest bottlenecks of the system often appear.

According to Nele Labi, Deputy Secretary General for Innovation at the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs, at various stages of the journey not only health services but also support of the social system are important for coping with a serious illness. “Today, health and social care systems function in silos — resources are planned separately from each other and performance is measured differently. In this project, we want to create a data-driven management model that looks at all needs, decisions and expenditures that come with the disease,” Nele Labi said. “We want to be able to make smarter and more human-centric decisions in the future that take into account a person's quality of life as a whole in different spheres - health, work and social life.”