Trinity, along with St James’s Hospital, is to develop a new cancer institute, which aims to set a new standard for cancer care in Ireland. The new institute, which will be located at St James’s, will be the first of its kind in the country.
Following the lead of similar international models, the centre will introduce a new national standard in care for patients with cancer in the areas of cancer prevention, treatment and survivorship.
Trinity and St James’s Hospital have been recruiting to fill key clinical academic posts and research appointments in oncology. Accreditation for the new institute is also being sought from the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes, which has 78 members all across Europe. The group sets out to defragment cancer patient care across Europe and provides a high standard for its members to ultimately improve treatments available and patient quality of life.
The National Cancer Registry estimates that the incidence of cancer in Ireland will increase by 100 per cent in 2040 based on population changes. Despite improvements in cancer treatment in Ireland, rates of survival for many types of cancer remain below comparable developed countries.
Provost Patrick Prendergast said in a press statement said that the institute will deliver improved patient outcomes by providing “research-led diagnosis and treatment, and promoting a better understanding of cancer through interdisciplinary research”.
Prendergast also said that with St James’s Hospital – which is Dublin’s largest university teaching hospital – they hope to “lead the way in innovative new cancer treatment”. He added that they will be “educating the next generation of cancer clinicians, health professionals and scientists”.
St James’s Hospital CEO, Lorcan Birthistle, said in the statement that the “exciting joint development” will place “research, education and treatment side by side which is in line with the model for the very best cancer centres internationally”.
St James’s and Trinity are already closely linked, with Trinity serving as the hospital’s teaching partner and with the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences located in St James’s.
The announcement was made at the opening of the 10th International Cancer Conference at Trinity as part of Cancer Week. This year’s theme for the conference, which is jointly hosted by St James’s, is “New Frontiers is Personalised Cancer Care”. The conference comes ahead of the government publication of the National Strategy on Cancer. A steering group, chaired by Prof John Kennedy, Consultant Medical Oncologist, St James’s Hospital was set up in 2015 to develop the strategy for 2016 to 2025. Two issues the plan will address are: ensuring that services for cancer treatment are on a par with the top international performers, and improving the quality of life of people recovering from cancer.
In the press release, Minister for Health Simon Harris said: “I welcome this association between the health sector and third level education on cancer care involved in the collaboration between Trinity College Dublin and St James’s Hospital. Such combined working holds great potential to ultimately benefit the patient experience.”
