title: The European standards of Haemophilia Centres.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The European haemophilia community of professionals and patients has agreed on the principles of haemophilia care to address comprehensive optimal delivery of care which is nowadays scattered throughout Europe. Many of the health facilities call themselves Haemophilia Centres despite their variation in size, expertise and services provided. Only a small number of countries have Haemophilia Centre accreditation systems in place.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the framework of the European Haemophilia Network project, following an inclusive process of stakeholder involvement, the European Guidelines for the certification of haemophilia centres have been developed in order to set quality standards for European Haemophilia Centres and criteria for their certification.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Guidelines define the standards and criteria for the designation of two levels of care delivery: European Haemophilia Treatment Centres, providing local routine care, and European Haemophilia Comprehensive Care Centres, providing specialised and multi-disciplinary care and functioning as tertiary referral centres. Additionally, they define standards about general requirements, patient care, provision of an advisory service and establishment of network of clinical and specialised services.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The implementation of the European Guidelines for the certification of Haemophilia Centres will contribute to the reduction of health inequalities through the standardisation of quality of care in European Union Member States and could represent a model to be taken into consideration for other rare disease groups.
authors.affiliation: Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, United Kingdom European Haemophilia Consortium, Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giangrande
authors.affiliation: European Haemophilia Consortium, Bruxelles, Belgium National Blood Centre, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calizzani
authors.affiliation: European Haemophilia Consortium, Bruxelles, Belgium Necstep Studio Associato, Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Menichini
authors.affiliation: European Haemophilia Consortium, Bruxelles, Belgium National Blood Centre, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Candura
authors.affiliation: Scientific Direction, IRCCS Ca' Granda Maggiore Policlinico Hospital Foundation, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Pier Mannuccio
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Mannucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Makris
mesh_terms: D002568:Certification / Q000592:standards*; D019058:Community Networks / Q000592:standards*; D006467:Hemophilia A; D006782:Hospitals, Special / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000592:standards*