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People receiving treatment at NCT Heidelberg sometimes have questions about medical issues, but they also want additional support or to contribute their own experiences in order to improve processes and services. The Patient Advisory Board offers a direct opportunity to do this: its volunteer members ensure that the perspective of patients is represented in the clinic, research, and care. In 2025, the Patient Advisory Board at NCT Heidelberg will celebrate its tenth anniversary. The impetus for founding the Patient Advisory Board came from the self-help friendliness process—a qualification program run by the Network for Self-Help Friendliness and Patient Orientation in Healthcare, in which the NCT Heidelberg, in close cooperation with the regional self-help contact point, the Heidelberg Self-Help Office, has now been awarded the title of “Self-Help Friendly Hospital” for the sixth time. Until 2021, the Heidelberg Self-Help Office coordinated the Patient Advisory Board, but since then this task has been taken over by the self-help representative, Anne-Kathrin Müller. 

The Patient Advisory Board's main focus is on improving patient care at the NCT Heidelberg. To this end, its members are integrated into the clinical care structures and regularly exchange ideas with the management of the NCT Heidelberg. The members of the Patient Advisory Board are contact persons for patients and their relatives, contribute their perspective, participate in decision-making processes and research projects, and are involved in fundraising campaigns and events such as Cancer Patient Day.

The Patient Advisory Board currently consists of 13 volunteers. Eight of them are representatives of various oncology self-help groups, while the other five serve as general patient representatives. The spokesperson is Imke Veit-Schirmer, and her first deputy is Bernhard Ortseifen. All members of the advisory board have particular strengths and skills based on their own experiences with cancer, which they can contribute to the work. Cooperation with researchers and physicians is becoming increasingly important in order to make clinical studies more practical and patient-oriented.

The 10-year history of the Patient Advisory Board is marked by numerous successful projects. These include, for example, the volunteer guidance service initiated in 2018, which provides orientation to patients and their relatives at the NCT Heidelberg and neighboring clinics. For many years, the Patient Advisory Board has supported the organization of Cancer Patient Day and is represented in the opening round. Since 2020, members of the Patient Advisory Board have been part of the jury for the “Donations against Cancer” project and evaluate research proposals. To mark its 10th anniversary, the Patient Advisory Board introduced itself to patients and staff with an information stand in the foyer of the NCT Heidelberg and took part in the celebration for the “Self-Help Friendly Hospital” award.