Tays Cancer Centre meets rigorous European quality standards
Tays Cancer Centre has successfully renewed its accreditation as an OECI Cancer Centre for a further five-year period. The Centre was first awarded this distinguished designation in 2019. The reaccreditation followed an 18-month audit process.
An international team of OECI auditors visited Tampere in September to assess the delivery of cancer care. The assessment covered diagnostic and therapeutic services, governance structures, interprofessional collaboration, internal communication, patient involvement in their care, and the scope and integration of research activities.
Compared to the previous audit, Tays Cancer Centre’s scores improved across nearly all the assessed domains. The auditors especially praised the Centre’s high standard of patient care and its overall development, despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the major health and social services reform conducted in Finland.
“In particular, the auditors commended the Centre for the quality of imaging services, the advancement of data-driven management and clinical informatics, and the delivery of palliative care. Research in prostate and pancreatic cancers, along with paediatric oncology, was identified as a key area of scientific expertise,” says Chief Physician Annika Auranen from Tays Cancer Centre.
Tays Cancer Centre met the highest-level criteria in all other domains, but the volume of clinical cancer research should be further increased. At the time of the audit, 60 active cancer studies related to diagnostics, surgery or pharmacotherapy were underway. The threshold for OECI’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre designation is 75 studies.
“We must persistently cultivate a research-positive culture and maintain close collaboration between Tampere University Hospital (Tays) and Tampere University. It is important to support researchers’ career paths and to enable clinical research to be carried out as an integral part of the university hospital’s operations.”
Investigator-initiated clinical studies play a key role
Special Advisor Merja Helenius, who is responsible for advancing cancer research collaboration between Tampere University and Tays, notes that clinical studies are conducted at Tays while basic and wet lab research is carried out at Tampere University across all the areas of strength identified in the audit.
Researchers from both institutions engage in active and diverse collaborations in these areas.
“This broad and dynamic research collaboration is a central element of the OECI’s research quality standards and is assessed during the audit and accreditation process,” Helenius notes.
She agrees with the audit’s conclusions that further support is needed to expand clinical research.
“The main challenge lies in the number of clinical studies. Finland’s appeal as a site for industry-sponsored international trials is limited due to its small population. Pharmaceutical companies evaluate potential study locations based on the number of patients that can be recruited and the associated costs. These factors are largely beyond our control.”
To strengthen clinical research, Helenius emphasises the importance of investigator-initiated clinical studies, particularly those focused on cancer drugs and medical devices. Efforts are underway to improve the conditions for such studies.
“Compared to other Finnish cancer centres and university hospitals, Tampere University is particularly active in medical device research. We conduct a significantly higher number of investigator-led studies related to medical devices and diagnostics than anywhere else in Finland.”
Audit supports further development
However, reductions in government funding for both universities and wellbeing services counties present challenges for future development. Helenius stresses the need for collaborative planning to identify realistic strategies for advancing clinical research within existing resources.
“We are not merely looking to improve our audit standing, but to improve our operations and achieve our goals. Strengthening research collaboration between Tampere University and Tays is one of our key development priorities.”
Advancing translational research – which integrates basic research at Tampere University with clinical research, and ultimately with clinical diagnostics and therapeutic innovations – is a goal shared by both the University and Tays.
The audit provided a comprehensive overview of Tay Cancer Centre’s current state, enabling more targeted development efforts that are aligned with institutional goals.
“The OECI Cancer Centre accreditation also reinforces our position as a high-quality and trusted partner in international collaboration,” Helenius says.
There are currently 61 OECI-accredited cancer centres in Europe. In Finland, the national objective is for all university hospitals to achieve OECI Cancer Centre designation. All the five local cancer centres in Finland are members of the OECI. Four of them have undergone at least one audit.
Further information
Merja Helenius
merja.helenius [at] tuni.fi (merja[dot]helenius[at]tuni[dot]fi)
Tel. +358 504377136
