The Portuguese Ministry of Health recognized more healthcare institutions as reference centers in the areas of adult oncology, distinguishing once again Hospital Beatriz Ângelo (HBA) as a reference, this time in the treatment of hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancer. In March, when the Ministry of Health announced the recognition of the first centers of reference in oncology, HBA was attributed the distinction of reference center in the treatment of rectal cancer. Now, it distinguishes this hospital once again, recognizing the quality of the healthcare service provided, the results obtained and the competence of its professionals in the treatment of liver, pancreas and biliary tract tumors. Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, run by Luz Saúde group, is therefore, from now on, the only public hospital run in a public-private partnership regime with two reference centers in the treatment of cancer, after acceptance and recognition of the two applications submitted by HBA in the beginning of the selection process. Hospital da Luz Lisboa, the major private unit of Luz Saúde group, had already been recognized as a reference center in the treatment of rectal cancer. As in March, in the first phase of selection, the commission in charge of the process made its decision based on strict criteria, concerning the hospital casuistry in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancer, and the observance of specific quality requirements related with the results obtained in the treatment of this pathology. The recognition of HBA as a reference in the treatment of liver, pancreas and biliary tract tumors means that the hospital has proven to have a sufficient number of patients with the same type of cancer, which are diagnosed and treated at the hospital. And furthermore, that it had to indicate the results specific of those cases, that is to say the rates of complication, relapse and mortality, the average time of internment, the clinical risk rates and the measures of clinical safety, etc., proving to have excellent indicators in such results. The transparency of procedures, the guarantee of a multidisciplinary healthcare service and the possibility of clinical investigation and training of younger professionals at HBA were other indicators considered in the decision. Finally, the clinical protocols adopted at the hospital, the teams’ organization and the quality of HBA professionals allowed excellent results in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with this pathology, which was also recognized by the Portuguese Ministry of Health with the distinction of HBA as center of reference.
