Professionals, equipment and drug costs are challenges for IPO in Lisbon

Attracting human resources, retraining equipment, and the cost of drugs and therapeutic innovations are the three main challenges that the Portuguese Institute of Oncology in Lisbon faces a century after its creation.

The problems were highlighted by the president of the Lisbon IPO, Eva Falcao, in an interview with Lusa to mark the 100th anniversary of the institution founded by the surgeon Francisco Gentil, marked this Friday with a ceremony dedicated to all the hospital’s employees.

Spending on pharmaceuticals has been growing year on year, and 2023 was no exception: “We ended 2022 with spending on pharmaceuticals of about 64 million euros, and this year, without the final closure of credit notes, we have an increase of about 20%,” – he said.

According to Eva Falcão, ensuring the daily cost of drugs and therapeutic innovations is a challenge for the institution: “On the one hand, we have situations such as cell therapy, which in some cases offers a cure, and is very interesting and very useful, we face the challenge is also to figure out what real innovation is and how to pay for it.”

He mentioned that the IPO is part of the National Health Service and what it offers patients “is treatment, regardless of origin, at no cost to the user, but which obviously has very high costs and budgetary implications.”

Among the three challenges, Eva Falcao noted that the first is the attraction of human resources, acknowledging that this is not an easy task in the Lisbon region and in an “ever-evolving market.”

“Attracting human resources for research, stimulating research is an area that, in our opinion, may also be of interest to our specialists,” he emphasized.

Regarding the facility’s retraining, the administrator said it is a century-old hospital, which means there is a “constant need for investment” that sometimes impacts people’s daily lives.

He highlighted some projects that the institution intends to implement and others that are close to completion, such as the installation of a complex of photovoltaic panels, supported by a European program, which will allow energy savings estimated at approximately half a million euros per year. and how to produce green energy.

The pediatric service will also undergo reconstruction in the hospital and day hospital, improving the range of patients, conditions of stay and care. The investment budget will be about 250 thousand euros.

“There are teenagers who we feel don’t want to mingle with younger children, and so we want to give them some privacy,” the person in charge said, highlighting that the IPO records about 180 new cases of childhood cancer a year.

Summing up IPO activity in 2023, Eva Falcao reported that until November there were around 293,000 external consultations, up 2% on the same period in 2022, and 6,000 initial consultations, up 10%. .

Asked whether the IPO had been able to respond to the increase in demand, the administrator replied that it had: “In fact, this was one of the main goals that the board of directors set when it took over its duties a year and five months ago. expand the population’s access to diagnosis and treatment.”

“And indeed, compared to previous years, during similar periods, we managed to grow in the number of initial consultations, medical consultations, operations, day hospital sessions, radiation therapy sessions,” he said.

This “fairly high” increase in people’s access to treatment was achieved by increasing human resources, which currently stand at around 2,100 people.

“On the other hand, some reorganizations also make it possible to provide assistance differently, to create schemes differently, trying to make maximum use of the installed capacity of the institute,” he emphasized.

As an example, he cited the work in the operating room, completed last fall, and the complex of rooms that opened, allowing for an increase in surgical activity.

“Fortunately, IPO has responded and is responding quite well to the needs of its population, and we think we still have room to grow,” said Eva Falcao, speaking with Lusa in front of a panel of photographs featuring the faces of professionals who “do IPOs.” grow.”