ESMO Designated Centres of Integrated Oncology and Palliative Care
Since 2003, ESMO has awarded the ‘ESMO Designated Centres of Integrated Oncology and Palliative Care’ accreditation. The overall aim of this programme is to promote the integration of palliative care services into existing cancer care programmes (https://esmo.org/designated-centres).
This fast-growing community consists of cancer centres which provide comprehensive services in supportive and palliative care. Centres selfnominate and are then reviewed via a rigorous anonymous process by members of the ESMO Designated Centres Working Group, to ensure that they fulfil the 13 criteria related to advanced programme development, consistent with the established international standards. These criteria are based on recommendations from the World Health Organization guidelines on the provision of palliative care for patients with cancer regarding integration, credentialing, service provision, research and education. The ESMO Designated Centres have a great potential for
collaboration between centres for service development and implementation, education and research. The ESMO Designated Centres Working Group has the ambition to contribute to improvement in all of these areas in the coming years. We will need your contributions today and in the future. For any input or active contributions to the programme, contact: designatedcentres@esmo.org for more information.
