A NEW six-bed day-care unit for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients was officially opened yesterday at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
The unit, costing €3.5 million, has been purpose-built for some of the 1,100 people who have the disease in Ireland and who need to be separated from other patients to ensure there is no cross-infection.
It has air filtration units, which will allow the air to be changed 12 times an hour, along with consultation and therapy rooms.
It will mean that fewer CF patients will have to access hospital services through accident and emergency departments.
Ireland has the highest rate of the condition in the world and the absence of dedicated units has been repeatedly criticised.
In October the provision of a new €22 million dedicated unit at St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin was announced for cystic fibrosis patients.
It will be built by 2012.
The five-storey unit will provide 100 single, en-suite rooms to accommodate patients with cystic fibrosis, liver disease and cancer. It will also provide a 10-bed day unit for patients with CF.
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