Assistance and support for cancer patients: the first Cas del Sulcis inaugurated at the Cto in Iglesias

The first Cas (Service Reception Center) in the entire Sulcis Iglesiente was inaugurated this morning at 11:00 at the Cto hospital in Iglesias. The center, located inside the oncology department of the hospital, will take care of welcoming and taking care of patients with suspected or confirmed tumor diagnosis, directing them, based on the therapies necessary for each of them, to the various treatment centers, towards the necessary medical visits and providing great support at a time, that of the discovery of the disease, in which a patient can feel disoriented and helpless.

Around 11:20, the ASL director Giuliana Campus cut the ribbon surrounded by doctors and institutions . Among others, the health director, Dr. Antonio Pisano, the administrative director, Dr. Milena Pau, and the Cas team were present. For the municipal administration, the councilor for Culture, Claudia Sanna, was present.

"Today is a beautiful day for our ASL," said Dr. Giuliana Campus, director of the ASL of Sulcis Iglesiente, during the press conference organized within the same oncology department of the city hospital. " Thanks to everyone's commitment, because the inauguration of this center is the result of the work of many people ."

The importance of this service is not only in providing support in managing the disease, but also in the psychological assistance offered : "We have a psycho-oncologist who takes care of accompanying patients throughout the treatment process, because facing these moments can make a person collapse", explained Francesco Atzori, head of the oncology department of the ASL Sulcis. "A tumor diagnosis is a tsunami in the life of those who receive it. Thanks to the Cas, a path is activated that aims at timeliness and coordination of interventions".

Accessing the CAS is simple: the patient is sent to the center directly by hospital specialists, clinics or private doctors who have confirmed the diagnosis . The multidisciplinary group studies and plans a personalized path, according to which the patient begins, continues or completes the diagnostic-therapeutic process. "Within the service," underlined Arianna Marceddu, Case Manager of the new CAS, "the figure of the Case Manager plays a fundamental role. It is a nursing figure of reference for the patient who is taken into care and for us it is an achievement, because it enhances our profession."

"As a former cancer patient," said Dr. Antonello Cuccuru, director of health professions, "I have experienced firsthand the difficulty of putting together the puzzle of specialists and bureaucratic aspects throughout the treatment process. The Cas center helps not only thanks to the figure of the psycho-oncologist, but also by allowing patients to take back control of their mental health."

The one opened inside the Cto is the fourth CAS center in all of Sardinia, together with the centers of Nuoro, Oristano and the CAS center of Businco.