“I am sure the reintegration of Haematology and Oncology services to UHW will be of great benefit to patients and their families,” according to Ben O’Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer, University Hospital Waterford and Kilcreene Regional Orthopaedic Hospital, speaking in recent weeks as new Haematology and Oncology day services got under way in a new, dedicated, for-purpose unit in University Hospital Waterford.
For the last six years, in an arrangement initially put in place during the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, day services appointments for Haematology and Oncology patients of University Hospital Waterford were facilitated at UPMC Whitfield Hospital in Waterford.
Following completion of €1.3 million of extensive renovation works carried out last year, however, an especially adapted Haematology and Oncology day ward is now open at Outpatients 2 on the ground floor in University Hospital Waterford.
Patients of Consultant Oncologists and Haematologists at University Hospital Waterford will receive treatment, such as various forms of chemotherapy, in the new day unit there. The new unit features isolation facilities and has its own nurses station and pharmacy.
Mr O’Sullivan added:
“University Hospital Waterford is a designated cancer centre for the South East and last year almost 10,000 treatments were initiated in the Haematology and Oncology Day Unit.
“Since 2020, this service has been offsite in UPMC (to whom the HSE is very thankful for accommodating this and other cancer treatment arrangements). We in University Hospital Waterford (UHW) have been very much looking forward to repatriating the unit and team back to the UHW campus.”
This development is in line with the HSE Corporate Plan priority of providing care at the right time by improving equity of access and improving access to specialist services.