Department of Health Professions (DHP)

The Directorate of Healthcare Professions (DPS) is the body responsible for the policy, management, organisation and coordination of nursing, healthcare technical, rehabilitation and prevention staff, as well as support staff, working at the IRCCS National Cancer Institute Foundation. The DPS operates at various levels of the organisation: managerial, coordination and operational-professional, integrating its responsibilities, functions and competences with those of other departments and professionals. It aims to ensure the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of the care and technical services provided, in order to offer personalised care to all citizens who use the Institute’s facilities and services, guaranteeing the optimal use of available resources, in compliance with ethical and professional standards.

The DPS is geared towards a work organisation based on personnel policies and management systems, developing an attractive environment for healthcare professionals and a functional one for users, in line with the following principles:

• planning and monitoring of management and organisational activities, ensuring the effective, efficient and cost-effective use of resources – including in terms of quality – whilst guaranteeing professional performance levels that meet the relevant care standards;
• organisational development and integration, involving the identification and implementation of innovative organisational models that facilitate patient care and continuity of care, with particular attention to the involvement of professionals and integration with all other functions within the Institute;
• care governance, understood as the ability to create a system that recognises the different levels of care complexity, offering the most appropriate response to people’s needs, in light of the results of scientific and care-related research.

To ensure the implementation of organisational and managerial activities, the Director of the DPS is assisted by Departmental Coordinators (nursing and technical) and Unit Coordinators. The Management oversees the promotion of technical and scientific skills and expertise, and the enhancement of the role of healthcare professions within the wards and care and support services, including through continuous professional development, research and the testing of organisational and care models.

The most significant innovations can be summarised as follows:

• use of the Electronic Clinical Care Record, which forms part of the periodic certification process, to support healthcare professionals in the delivery of care;
• specific training activities, accredited within the Continuing Medical Education system;
• research activities, integrated with and complementary to the Institute’s Scientific Directorate;
• management of the Continuing Care Nursing Clinics;
• development of the activities of the Research Nurse;
• coordination of the activities of Research Nurses;
• coordination of Case Managers for the provision of care;
• coordination of placement activities for Bachelor’s and Master’s degree courses in the healthcare professions.