TMC has consistently advocated for the hub-and-spoke model for cancer care delivery in India, with public sector hubs-and-spokes so geographically distributed that patients receive healthcare close to their homes. Tata Memorial Centre and the Departm
their homes. Tata Memorial Centre and the Department of Atomic Energy have already contributed to the development of required resources with rapid expansion in the past ten years. They have done more – provided proof that systems can be created in challenging circumstances, in makeshift hospitals, without the full complement of manpower, while projects get completed and commissioned. The full realization of the hub-and-spoke model, requiring 30-40 multidisciplinary comprehensive cancer care hubs, will have to be accomplished through central and state departments of health, which already have a network of public health institutions across India. They need to be strengthened, upgraded, and empowered to be the hubs of cancer care. TMC will continue to provide a model that other institutions can emulate.
TMC now sees itself, with some justification, not only as a network of cancer hospitals but also as the organizer of a vast societal project. However, to remain worthy of continued emulation, it will have to remain steadfast to its original mission – delivering the highest levels of excellence in service, education, and research in its hospitals. Patients and families who come to TMC in the most challenging time of their lives - who are its raison d'être - should feel and know that the institution cares for them - and does the best it can for them. This is the most significant challenge for TMC – to remain an institution of cancer care excellence while contributing to national discourse, policy, and action. Attaining and maintaining excellence is not a trivial endeavour. It requires constant striving, nurturing, and responsiveness to feedback. TMC will keep abreast of technological and scientific advances as they happen - and contribute its own. It will learn from and collaborate with other institutions, imbibing the best ideas and practices. It will continue to remind itself that institutional humility is as essential as personal humility – to change, adapt and grow.
TMC is a storied institution whose eminence has been nurtured by generations of individuals since its birth in 1941. If we dare to see further, it is by standing on the shoulders of these giants. On behalf of the Tata Memorial Centre family, I am deeply grateful for the continuous support of our Government, DAE, community, and other partners, which enables us to move forward in our mission. We are not perfect and do not claim it – we do claim that we will strive to our fullest towards a world where cancer no longer means a life interrupted
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