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The 12 de Octubre Hospital,a leading centre in international healthcare

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The 12 de Octubre University Hospital is themain specialised healthcare centre for the sou-thern zone of Madrid, although it also servesother healthcare areas of Madrid and otherSpanish regions. It is one of the biggest hospitalsin Spain, both in terms of size and number ofbeds. It can attend to most kinds of healthcareproblems, as it offers care in practically all medicaland surgical specialist areas, and has central servi-ces with state-of-the-art technological equipment.As a result, the 12 de Octubre Hospital enjoys aposition of prestige in the field of internationalhealthcare.

A visit round the Hospital will show that nearlyall of the services and units that it comprises areoutstanding in some aspect of their work.Theycover the four areas in which the 12 de OctubreHospital is a leading centre: transplants, cancertreatment, care of polytrauma patients, andwomen's and children's healthcare.

The Hospital is also recognised in other areas thatdo not involve healthcare directly but are closelyrelated to it, such as teaching. Every year, it offerstraining for more than 400 medical students and asimilar number of nursing students, together with500 staff who are undergoing practical training, havingobtained their university qualifications.There is alsoan extensive ongoing training programme for ourworkers.

Innovationand scientific advances

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The Hospital currently has around 200 rese-arch projects underway, focussed mainly oncancer, rare diseases, models of disease andtherapies, infectious diseases and AIDS, otherchronic diseases and inflammation, and neuro-logical and mental diseases.

For this purpose, the 12 de Octubre Hospitalhas a Centre for Biomedical Research, whichis dedicated exclusively to carrying out thesekinds of projects and studies.There is a totalsurface area of 1,500 square metres housingeight research laboratories, scientific-techno-logical support areas (genome science, cultu-res, confocal microscopy, etc.), two experi-mental operating rooms (one for large ani-mals, and another for microsurgery), sevendifferentiated dependent areas in which theseanimals are kept, and areas for administration,equipment and general services. A large number of professional staff use the facilities in

the centre to carry out their work, including doctors,biologists, biochemists and chemists.Their work mainlyinvolves research into rare diseases - mitochondrial,oncological, inflammatory and neurological - and mentalhealth.The final objective is that the findings will influencetherapeutic activity and will improve the quality of thecare received by patients.

In the 12 de Octubre Hospital andits dependent centres there aresome 300 staff involved in researchwork, either as the main resear-chers in collaboration with scientificprojects.There are also anotherone hundred people working full-time in this area.

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A joint effort to improve healthcare

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The figures relating to hospital activity are remarkable. Nearly40,000 surgical interventions, over 40,000 patient admissions,and approximately a quarter of a million emergency treat-ments. For this to be possible, the 12 de Octubre Hospital hastwo large buildings, the Maternity-Paediatric Unit and GeneralResidence, the latter being the oldest of the two, having begunits activity in 1973. In addition to these two buildings are theTeaching Block, the aforementioned Research Centre and theGenerating Unit, together with a number of different specia-list centres within its healthcare area.All of this in hospitalgrounds of 147,000 square metres.

The main centre in the architectural complex, where thebody of the Hospital is located, is the Out-Patient Centre,which is the starting point for the project of the New 12 de OctubreHospital.

This ambitious project entails the complete renovation of the Hospital's amenities.Together with the Out-Patient Centre, there are plans to build other buildings for the care of hospitalised adult patients, for sur-gery, and for women's and children's healthcare. In all, this will be a New 12 de Octubre Hospital that ismodern and forward-looking, incorporating the latest available technologies while retaining the prestigethat it already enjoys today.

Thanks to all of this, and to the work carried out by its almost7,000 staff, the 12 de Octubre Hospital is now a key cen-tre for anyone who becomes ill atsome point in hisor her life,and needshelp inrecovering.

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The 12 de Octubre University Hospital has undis-puted prestige in the field of transplants. It hasoccupied one of the top positions in the countryyear after year with regard to the number of opera-tions of this type, and is one of the few Spanish cen-tres that carry out all kinds of solid organ transplants- kidney, heart, liver, pancreas, intestine, lung and multi-visceral. Since the first kidney transplant in 1973, morethan 4,000 transplants have been carried out in all ofthe categories mentioned above.

There is therefore no doubt about the importance ofthe 12 de Octubre University Hospital as a transplantcentre for. It is a pioneering centre in many techniques,such as kidney transplants for elderly patients using kid-neys from donors who are also of an advanced age, andperforming both double and single transplants.This hasallowed the Hospital to use organs from very old patients -up to 90 years old - something that previously had beenconsidered unviable.

Also included in its range of services are liver transplants, bothfor adults and children: the Hospital has been designated as akey national centre for this kind of transplant, and also forintestine transplants in adults.The 12 de Octubre Hospital isalso a pioneer in this field, and is especially active in techniquethat uses the same liver for two patients, thus making maxi-mum use of the donated organs available and in many casespreventing the deaths of patients who are awaiting a donororgan.The Hospital also carries out heart, pancreas-kidney,pancreas in isolation, adult intestine, multivisceral and, mostrecently, lung transplants.

This important activity requires the involvement of practicallyall of the services, in perfect coordination. Only a hospital with the characteristics of the 12 de Octubre,with specially trained and highly skilled staff, high technology and state-of-the-art equipment, can do all thisand successively achieve excellent results.

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A leading hospital in a broad range of facilities and servicesTransplants

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Regarding the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, the 12 de OctubreUniversity Hospital covers all the areas necessary for tackling thisdisease.A great many services, both medical and surgical, play a rolein diagnosis and treatment. In addition, they are helped by the use ofstate-of-the-art equipment and leading technology.

Among recent additions is the Family Cancer Unit, focusing on preven-tion of the disease from a hereditary point of view.This Unit attends tothe needs of members of a family in which a number of cases of thesame type of cancer have been diagnosed at an early age.

Also of note is the development of molecular biology and other similartechniques that have contributed to improvements in the diagnosis,prognosis and evolution of cancer.They have also helped to promotethe study of drugs in clinical trials for oncology therapy and in the deve-lopment of the services and units that carry out laboratory testing.

The 12 de Octubre Hospital is a national centre of reference for thetreatment of germinal tumours with intensive chemotherapy. It has aMedical Oncology Day Hospital, where treatments like chemotherapy,transfusions and puncturing can be carried out on an out-patient basisin spacious, well-lit, comfortable rooms.

Additionally, the Radiotherapy Oncology Service is also availa-ble to carry out new techniques, such as intraoperative radiothe-rapy and breast irradiation using out-patient facilities.

The 12 de Octubre Hospital leads and coordinates the Oncosurgroup, which is made up of nine hospitals in the south of Madrid,which work together to improve the diagnosis and treatment ofcancer for patients in their catchment areas.

A leading hospital in a broad range of facilities and servicesDiagnosis and treatment of cancer

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A leading hospital in a broad range of facilities and services

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The 12 de Octubre Hospital has a Maternity-PaediatricCentre dedicated to the care of women and children,which receives patients from all over the country. In termsof women's healthcare, the Hospital is a leading centre forhealthcare for pregnant women and pathological childbirthprocesses or those with complications. It also offers treat-ment for breast and ovarian cancer, among others. For exam-ple, there is a Foetal Medicine Unit, which is a referencepoint for intrauterine heart operations, as well as for thediagnosis of other foetal anomalies. Furthermore, it is a pione-er in performing family-inclusive caesareans - in which the pre-sence of an accompanying family member is permitted- and inthe practice of the skin-on-skin method from the operating orbirthing rooms.

In terms of paediatric care, the Hospital is a principal centre inneonatal care, having one of the largest and most pioneeringservices in the country; one that has received numerous prizesfor care of premature babies and their parents. Besides this, theMaternity-Paediatric Centre has highly complex multidiscipli-nary units, such as the Respiratory, Cranio-facial and RareDisease units. It is also one of the main centres for the treat-ment of specific pathologies such as hemifacial microsomia,labiopalatine fissure and cancer in children.

The 12 de Octubre Hospital has, among other state-of-the art equipment, a child haemodynamia room -a firstin Spain and one of the few that exist in Europe- whichallows diagnosis and treatment of child patients withcongenital cardiac pathologies and other associatedproblems.

Women's and children's healthcare

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Only a hospital like the 12 de Octubre, with its state-of-the-art equipment, specialist staff and a range of servicesthat covers practically all specialist areas - medical, sur-gical and central services - can attend to the care needsof polytrauma patients.

The Polytrauma Intensive Care Unit deserves a specialmention.With its highly skilled staff, the Unit attends topatients from anywhere in the country on a daily basis whohave suffered traffic or workplace accidents, for example.ThisIntensive Care Unit has a very low level of mortalities, despitethe complexity and severity of the patients it attends to. It is,moreover, one of the few units of this type that has a heliport onits upper floor, where patients needing urgent and highly speciali-sed care are received from far away places.

A leading hospital in a broad range of facilities and servicesCare for polytrauma patients

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Clinical specialities andmultidisciplinary units

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The 12 de Octubre University Hospital offers practicallyall clinical specialist areas.

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Admission and Clinical DocumentationAllergologyAnatomical PathologyAnaesthesiology and ResuscitationAngiology and Vascular SurgeryDigestive SystemClinical BiochemistryCardiologyCardiovascular SurgeryDigestive System and General Surgery Maxillofacial SurgeryPaediatric surgeryPlastic and Reconstructive SurgeryThoracic SurgeryMedical-Surgical Dermatology Endocrinology and NutritionHospital PharmacyGeneticsHaematology and HaemotherapyImmunologyIntensive MedicineInternal MedicineNuclear Medicine Preventive Medicine and Public HealthMedicine of the Workplace (Prevention of Risks inthe Workplace)Microbiology and Parasitology

NephrologyNeonatal CarePulmonologyNeurosurgeryNeurologyObstetrics and GynaecologyOphthalmologyMedical OncologyRadiotherapeutic Oncology Ear, Nose and ThroatPaediatricsPsychiatryRadiodiagnosisRadioneurosurgeryRehabilitationRheumatologyTraumatology and Surgery

OrthopaedicsPain UnitAccident and Emergency CareUrology

There are also multidisciplinary units made up of different specialist areas

Paediatric Rare Diseases UnitPaediatric Cystic Fibrosis UnitPaediatric Respiratory UnitPaediatric Heart InstitutePaediatric Cranio-facial Surgery Unit Paediatric Fissure UnitPelvic Floor UnitFoetal Medicine UnitChildbirth UnitAmyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis UnitPain UnitInfectious Diseases UnitMarfan's Syndrome Unit Neuro-oncology UnitNeuro-radiological Intervention UnitUro-oncology UnitColon Cancer UnitDigestive Pathology UnitBreast Pathology UnitLung Pathology Unit

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Epilogue

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Madrid's 12 de Octubre University Hospital istoday an innovative centre, leader in many fields,forward-looking and prestigious. If we had to givea complete description of a centre like this, wewould have to go on adding more positive quali-ties to this long list.The 12 de Octubre Hospitalhas excellent staff, state-of-the-art equipment andproject for its complete renovation, which willhelp to consolidate the position of prestige that itnow enjoys, and which makes it one of he besthospitals in the world. In short, this is a Hospitalthat offers quality, effectiveness and efficiency.