Ministry of Health grants required authorizations following unanimous recommendation by the Commission Permanente pour le Secteur Hospitalier (CPH)

The Laboratoire national de santé (LNS) will continue to operate its two diagnostic centers for the next four years. The required authorisations for the National Center of Pathology (NCP) and the National Center of Genetics (NCG) have now been granted by the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry of Health has accepted a recommendation made by the Commission Permanente pour le Secteur Hospitalier (CPH). In the first quarter of 2020, the Commission unanimously voted in favour of the extension of the existing licences. These had come into force for the first time in 2018 in compliance with the then newly enacted hospital law, and were initially limited to a period of 2 years.

Excellence in service to the country and its people

Prof. Dr. Friedrich Mühlschlegel, Director of the LNS, also sees the extension of the licenses as a strong recognition of the work of the two national diagnostic centres and a signal of confidence into the entire LNS team: “Over the past two years, we have developed a system of values that focuses on patient safety, clinical excellence and our daily work as a team of experts. In addition to professionalism and excellence, our strength also lies in on our shared ambition to serve the country and its people. The decision by the Ministry of Health shows that we are on the right track.”

State-of-the-art expertise as a requirement

Dr. Barbara Klink, who has headed the NCG since 2018, sees the decision by the Ministry and the CPH as a validation of the strategy of the center, which was founded in 2017: “Our claim as a reference center is to offer our various stakeholders a comprehensive clinical genetics service and state-of-the-art expertise in the field of genetics. This includes advanced training and reaches to research projects, which we implement together with national and international partners. Here too, renewed recognition by proven experts is of course extremely helpful.”

Bundling competences: a strategy for the long term

Prof. Dr. Michel Mittelbronn, head of the NCP since 2017, also thinks that beyond the core tasks comprising patient diagnostics and interaction with clinical stakeholders in tumor boards and working groups of the national cancer institute (INC), research and training projects will be pillars of the LNS’ excellence strategy in the future. His own department saw a specialisation process initiated three years ago, which is now bearing results: “Our team members have a lot to offer, both in terms of training and experience. Bundling this offer of competences is part of this structural process, which is designed for sustainability, and certainly helped to convince the Ministry and the CPH.”

Press review: RTL, Luxemburger Wort, Journal, Tageblatt, Paperjam