A new dedicated dermatology department has been opened at Temple Street Children’s University Hospital in Dublin.
Complete with state-of-the-art facilities, the new €180,000 suite is the culmination of an intensive fundraising drive led by the hospital’s fundraising office.
The department will provide both the facilities and space to care for more patients with skin conditions, including scope to carry out minor procedures straight away. It will also enable staff to demonstrate specific treatments including bathing, wet wrap applications and occlusive bandaging.
Dr. Brid O’Donnell, consultant dermatologist at Temple Street, said, “The new dermatology treatment suite is a huge asset for our patients. We now have the facility for immediate access to minor procedures. For the first time in Temple Street, we also have pulsed dye laser treatments for symptomatic or disfiguring vascular lesions.”
A total of 3,526 children were treated for skin conditions at Temple Street in 2011 alone, including a wide range of cutaneous infections, haemangiomas (strawberry marks), other vascular anomalies, various birthmarks and atopic dermatitis/eczema, which currently affects one in five children under five.
Speaking at the launch, Denise Fitzgerald, chief executive of the hospital’s fundraising office, said “It is fantastic for the hospital to see this project come to fruition. We wish to say a most sincere thank you to everyone who has made this suite a reality for the children in our care.”
Established in 1872, Temple Street Children’s University Hospital is a national facility that provides paediatric care to children from all over Ireland. Each year, over 130,000 sick children are cared for in Temple Street, of which one-third of inpatients come from outside Dublin. The Accident and Emergency Department caters for almost 50,000 children annually, making it one of the busiest A&E facilities in Europe.
Major specialties at the Children’s University Hospital include Neonatal and Paediatric Surgery, Nephrology, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Craniofacial Surgery, Orthopaedic, ENT and Plastic Surgery.
