History
A collaboration agreement was established in 2009 between the (1) Medical Oncology Unit at Tor Vergata University Clinical Center and (2) San Raffaele Palliative Care Centers (Rocca di Papa and Montecompatri). Over this period, an interdisciplinary team has been refined to provide integrated oncological, medical, and supportive care services for patients with cancer disease and their families from diagnosis to palliative care.
Profile
- Hospital ward (4 double-rooms with 8 beds)
- An outpatient unit (5 double-rooms with 10 beds)
- Two hospices (for a total of 30 single-rooms) located in Rocca di Papa and Montecompatri
- A home care assistance for 120 patients
- Center team consists of 8 oncologists, 8 physicians with specialist training in palliative care, 3 psychologists, 43 nurses, 12 students from the oncology residency programme at University of Rome Tor Vergata, social workers, and volunteers
Specialities
- Our Centre assists patients with neoplastic disease. Oncology services provide a full-range of “standard” modalities and “innovative” therapeutic protocols, based on international guidelines or novel scientific literature evidences.
- Due to the complexity of neoplastic pathology, a close collaboration among various specialists is required and provided by multidisciplinary meetings
- A philosophy of continuity of care and non-abandonment is essential for our cancer and palliative care centre and is provided by our ISO 9001 certified “continuous care” ambulatory
- Palliative care services for emergencies are available during work hours and out of work hours 24/7
Services available:
- Medical Oncology: chemotherapy, biological therapy, follow up visits, for inpatient and outpatient care
- Surgery: general surgery, cardiovascular surgery, thoracic surgery, transplant surgery, neurological surgery, gynaecological surgery, orthopaedic surgery, urologic surgery, otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, reconstructive/plastic surgery
- Radiology: Interventional radiology, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy
- Medicine: cardiology, dermatology, haematology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, infectiology, neurology, physiotherapy, rheumatology, and also,
- Pathology, laboratory, dental, pain management centre, intensive care unit, physical therapy, psycho-oncology, social workers, nutritional counselling
Palliative and Supportive Care
Cancer patients, even though no longer benefiting from antitumour treatments, still have a great need to receive care. The aim of our palliative care centres is not limited to prevent and relieve the suffering of these patients providing the best possible quality of life, but also to give these patients and their caregivers a full support. The interaction between oncology and palliative services is provided by a close collaboration among professionals in our centre. Multidisciplinary meetings are weekly held to plan the best treatment for each cancer patient. When complex needs are identified, oncologists and palliative care physicians discuss about the available therapeutic options. Based on this decision, patients are always under an oncologist’s or palliative care physician’s responsibility and they never feel abandoned during their disease.
Additional Contact
Girolamo Del Monte, M.D., Head of the San Raffaele Palliative Care Center (Rocca di Papa)
girolamo.delmonte@sanraffaele.it
Last update: March 2024
