Trinity College Dublin and St. James’s Hospital jointly welcomed the announcement of the national cancer strategy and the key role that a new comprehensive cancer centre will have as part of its delivery, writes Maureen Browne.
They said the planned Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute was being developed as such a centre.
“The first of its kind in Ireland, the Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute will set a new standard for cancer care nationally, integrating medicine and science in cancer prevention, treatment and survivorship. Based on similar leading international models, it will be located in one designated facility at St. James’s Hospital.”
Trinity and St. James’s Hospital have been scaling up for the new Cancer Institute with the recruitment of key new clinical academic and research appointments in oncology. It also became a member this month of the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) that sets the gold standard for leading cancer institutes in Europe. The Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute is going through a formal OECI accreditation that will take some time to complete. The accreditation will benchmark performance against international standards and direct the cancer services and research to the next level.
St James’s Hospital CEO, Loran Birthistle said, “St. James’s Hospital is a centre of excellence for the delivery of cancer care in Ireland. In this new Cancer Institute we will bring together clinicians, cancer carers, researchers and educators on the St. James’s Hospital campus where patients will benefit from an integrated approach to cancer care which is best practice internationally. This approach will allow cancer patients to access our oncology doctors, specialist nurses, and a full range of expert health and social care professionals in a patient-centred environment, and link all patients with advances in research and clinical trials.
“The best outcomes for patients are achieved in centres that combine high volume and highly specialised evidence based cancer care with scientific and technological advances. This exciting joint development between Trinity College and St. James’s Hospital will achieve this goal.”
