Aim and objectives:
The competence networks were established under Article 28 of the amended Law of 8 March 2018 on hospitals and hospital planning, with the aim of implementing an integrated model of care. Their objectives are to improve access to healthcare, strengthen the coordination of care pathways, ensure consistent quality of patient care, enhance the complementarity of healthcare professionals' roles, and improve the overall efficiency of patient care. The law provides for the possibility to establish a network for the following conditions:
- strokes;
- cancers involving the radiotherapy services;
- spinal conditions requiring surgical treatment;
- diabetes and obesity with adults comorbidities;
- diabetes and obesity with paediatric comorbidities;
- immunorheumatology for adults and children;
- psychosomatic disorders;
- chronic pain;
- neurodegenerative diseases.
As a patient-expert, the patient actively contribute to the design and governance of the competence networks, particularly within the network’s management committee. This gives them the opportunity to relay their needs and share their experiential knowledge to ensure coordinated, appropriate and patient-centred care.
Target group:
Patients affected by one of the conditions covered by a competence network.
Method:
Competence network projects are submitted to the Inter-hospital Management Committee, which, when a competence network project is discussed, includes a representative from the patient association that is most representative of the pathology concerned. Thus, patients are involved from the earliest stages of designing a network, allowing them to share their perspectives and lived experience.
Their involvement does not end at the design stage, as patients are also key stakeholders in the governance of the network through the competence network’s management committee, in which they participate. The management committee of a competence network plays a major role in guidance, operations, and communication.
Competence networks therefore represent patient participation at the meso level (i.e. participation in governance, management and processes).
Added value and outcomes:
Competence networks respond to the needs of patients with diseases and conditions requiring interdisciplinary care: adherence to common care standards, coordination of care and coordinated assessment of outcomes. Competence networks strengthen the coordination of care and cooperation, facilitate the patient journey and help to reduce inequalities in diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.
