Cancer institute for Galway

A major new cancer institute is proposed for Galway based on US models with the aim of improving the outcome for cancer patients in the west of Ireland.

The institute, which would be located on the campus of University College Hospital Galway (UCHG), is being planned by a consortium of consultants and healthcare workers, headed by local oncologist Dr Frank Sullivan.

In addition to providing clinical care, the proposed institute would have a strong research and education focus, according to Dr Sullivan.

"There is data to suggest that patient outcome is improved when all the various disciplines are brought together in one cancer specialist centre," he said.

"The idea is that prevention, training, treatment, education and research will all be co-ordinated in one facility."

While the project is at the embryonic stage at the moment, Dr Sullivan hopes that a more formal structure will be created over the coming months following discussions with the HSE, UCHG and NUI Galway.

As well as having links with the HSE, UCHG and the university, the institute would also have connections with the local medical industry and cancer charities so that all organisations could work together in a co-ordinated way.

"We are hoping that around the programme will come certain infrastructural developments," said Dr Sullivan.

"On the research side, we are applying for grants from various organisations including the Welcome Trust and the Health Research Board and others to see if the research institute could be built on the grounds of UCHG," he said.

Dr Sullivan brings the expertise that he gained in the medical and medical oncology fields in the US over 18 years to the project.

He worked at the National Institute of Health there for eight years and with community cancer care programmes in Washington DC for a decade.

"The US has a history of developing comprehensive cancer centres and programmes and this is the type of model we would like to follow," he said.

Dr Sullivan and his team are working from the blueprint of the National Cancer Strategy 2006 which aims for better prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

"The programme involves the sort of organisational structures that those of us who have worked in the US are used to," according to Dr Sullivan.

"A number of my colleagues have indicated that if that is the kind of approach we will be taking in Galway, it would make it much more appealing for them to return to Ireland to work, in the science, research and treatment sides," he said.

"Ireland trains a lot of doctors and scientists, many of whom go abroad to train and work and a great many of whom never come back.

"Many are extremely successful on a world stage in their disciplines and it would be wonderful if we could facilitate their return to Ireland, particularly the west."