Balearic health chief wins Madrid cancer care award
Five oncologists now work at Can Misses Hospital in Ibiza, after the service had just one specialist when Manuela García took charge of the Balearic Islands health department in summer 2023. García highlighted the change on Monday night as she accepted an ECO Foundation award in Madrid. The health minister won the category for the most relevant political figure in oncology at Spain’s Royal National Academy of Medicine.
She said cancer patients in Ibiza had been waiting longer than recommended for appointments. Specialists from Mallorca had travelled to the island regularly to cover the shortage.
Patients also often saw a different oncologist at each visit, García said, leaving them without continuous care. An oncology nurse case manager has now joined the service to guide patients through treatment, including trips to other centres, tests and their psychosocial situation.
Genetic advice and children’s care
At Mateu Orfila Hospital in Menorca, a fourth oncologist completed the regular staffing team at the end of 2024. The Hereditary Cancer Genetic Counselling Unit, set up in February 2025, has held 315 appointments and identified 26 Menorcan families with genetic variants linked to a higher cancer risk.
Around 30 new childhood cancer cases are diagnosed each year. Tumour patients continue to receive paediatric care until they turn 18, as paediatric treatment protocols have been shown to improve survival.
Since October, children in terminal situations and their families have had access to palliative care 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
CAR-T treatment stays in the Balearics
Son Espases Hospital has opened a clean room for producing advanced CAR-T therapies for blood cancers. The hospital is authorised to carry out every CAR-T use approved in Spain, including commercial and academic treatments.
Since receiving approval in June 2022, Son Espases has given CAR-T therapy to 41 patients: 28 with lymphomas, two with leukaemias and 11 with myelomas. The full treatment and follow-up can now take place in the Balearic Islands, removing the need for patients and their families to travel to accredited centres on the mainland.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com