OECI is leading workpackage 5 (WP5) of the EU Joint Action on Rare Cancers (JARC) on Quality Assurance.  One of the central pillars of the JARC is the support for the three cancer European Reference Networks (ERNs), EURACAN for adult solid cancers, Eurobloodnet for rare haematological malignancies, and PaedCan for childhood cancers. A related objective is to spur the creation or consolidation by Member States of new national networks of centres diagnosing and treating rare cancers.

The OECI Accreditation & Designation (A&D) Programme aims to help European cancer centres implement a quality system for oncology, and provide cancer patients in Europe with equal access to high quality cancer care, backed up by excellent training and translational research.

As part of the A&D programme a multidisciplinary team of professionals in oncology (nursing, medical, quality, research) visits cancer centres for a peer review.

As an essential part of the long process of the 5-year major revision of the OECI Quality Standards, OECI held an experts meeting in Brussels on 10^thApril.  About 40 people were present, representing the OECI Board and Accreditation and Designation (A&D) Board and Accreditation Committee, our OECI Working Group Chairs, a selection of 8 OECI auditors, the 4 IKNL co-ordinators, and representatives from other significant European Cancer Societies.

Since the start of the Accreditation & Designation Programme OECI has made use of a webbased e-tool, in which centres fill out the self assessment questionnaires in preparation of the peer review visit. In February 2018 the A&D Board has agreed to implement a new interface for the e-tool, which has mainly the same features as the old one. Also, it provides options for better communication with the centres and the audit team within the programme. The e-tool is built and maintained by the same developer, Compusense.

Performing a peer review visit as an OECI auditor is a learning experience in your own professional life

in the fight against cancer in your own Centre, as well as a crucial part of ensuring quality improvement

in the applicant Cancer Centre.

You get the chance to examine all aspects of the Cancer Centre, how it is organised at the management

level as well as at the clinical and laboratory levels for all disciplines: nurses, physicians, researchers,

pathologists, management etc.

The OECI received the award for its Second Edition of the OECI standards from the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua).

The accreditation programme of the ISQua provides assurance that the standards used by OECI to survey the performance of health care organizations meet the highest international benchmarks for accreditation entities. ISQua’s mission is to inspire, promote and support continuous improvement in the safety and quality of health care worldwide.

Welcome to the new OECI website for the Accreditation & Designation Working Group, which is fully incorporated into the renewed OECI website. On this website you will find all relevant information about the OECI A&D Programme, such as the standards, the process and method, how it is governed and also on how to apply for the programme.

For further information, please contact accreditation@oeci.eu.