Health Minister visits new cancer treatment branch in shopping mall

In January 2024, Uppsala University Hospital introduced a new concept for decentralized cancer care with the aim of offering more accessible and patient-centered cancer care, a branch in the Gränbystaden shopping center. The branch in Gränbystaden offers cancer treatments such as immunotherapy, antibody treatments and simple chemotherapy. In the development project, patients have also been trained to take some subcutaneous chemotherapy injections themselves at home.

During the visit, the Minister of Health initially received a brief presentation of the "Gränby Project" by Maria Andersson Ödman, Deputy Director of the Blood and Tumor Diseases Division at Uppsala University Hospital. This was followed by a tour of the new cancer clinic in the shopping center.

"This is a very nice example of good and close care", said Minister of Health Acko Ankarberg Johansson during the visit, highlighting the accessibility and ease for patients to get their cancer treatment in the mall rather than in the hospital.

"The benefits for patients are many," says Margareta Haag, chair of the patient network Nätverket mot cancer, and mentions how patients testify to benefits such as the ease of parking, the nice environment at the clinic and the possibility of Gränbystaden's range of services.

"The 'Gränby project' can inspire other regions", says Kjell Ivarsson, Sweden's national cancer coordinator at the RCC/SKR, and continues: "We need to work together, from east to west and south to north, and ask patients what they want, on the way to close care across the country".

The "Gränby project" started in January 2024 with the aim of creating a more accessible and calmer environment for patients than at the hospital. Since the clinic opened, Region Uppsala has been able to offer more cancer treatments and Uppsala University Hospital has been able to accept more patients for clinical trials. At the start, around ten treatments were given per day. The target for 2025 is around 20 and for 2027 around 30. The move is not expected to result in any additional costs, but on the contrary some savings.

The Gränby project has received a positive response. Patients feel that the clinic is easily accessible and that the environment is calmer in Gränby compared to the hospital. Many patients feel less sick when they receive their treatment in Gränby compared to the hospital. Staff say that they get more variety in their work by rotating out of the hospital and that it is positive to work with new colleagues.

Since the opening of the clinic in Gränby, it has been possible to provide more cancer treatments overall in Region Uppsala, while the hospital has been able to receive more study patients compared to before.

In conclusion, the Gränby project has shown that cancer care can be made more accessible to patients while at the same time enabling the healthcare system to meet the increasing demand for cancer care.

This article was originally published on Oncology in Sweden.

Caption 1: "The Gränby Project - accessible cancer care" is a development project in collaboration between Uppsala University Hospital, Region Uppsala, Adxto Care, Bristol Myers Squibb, BeiGene Nordics and Pfizer. Photo: Ulrika Nyberg

Caption 2: Acko Ankarberg Johansson. Photo: Anita Szava, Region Uppsala.