The OECI launched the A&D Programme to fulfil the following goals: 

• to provide cancer patients equal access to high quality of cancer care and overcome the current differences in access to diagnostics, treatment and therapeutic options that patients experience in different parts of Europe 
• to help European cancer centres/institutes implement a quality system for oncology care using the OECI standards and peer review system 
• to foster and accelerate improvements in translational and clinical cancer research 

Most quality assessment programmes are part of regulatory measures that are imposed by an external authority and are usually compulsory. In contrast, we have developed the OECI quality assessment programme as a supportive voluntary measure for cancer centres/institutes. It has been designed and developed by a wide range of European experts from European Oncology Societies and Patient Organisations, and staff from OECI members. Peer review is performed by experts from OECI cancer centres/institutes and site visits are chaired by a Director of an OECI cancer centre/institute. 

Accreditation is a process in which an independent organisation evaluates a centre and certifies that it meets certain quality standards. OECI has specialised its A&D Programme in multidisciplinary inegrated cancer care and research, with a major focus on comprehensiveness. The domains of the OECI A&D Programme include governance, organisational quality, patient involvement and empowerment, multidisciplinarity, prevention and early detection, all modalities of diagnosis, treatment and care, translational and clinical research, education and training. The OECI A&D Programme's standards are certified by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua).