Letterkenny and Sligo: New surgical hubs proposed for hospitals
"This is the right thing for Donegal - it is the right thing for the north west," the minister said. "From a data perspective and a planning perspective, this was simply the right decision."The investment at Letterkenny University Hospital will include the development of a new surgical hub, along with expanded cancer treatment services.In Sligo, a new stand-alone surgical hub with two operating theatres will be constructed near the town's university hospital.Carroll MacNeill described the announcement as "an important milestone" in delivering improved care for patients at both hospitals.She said the projects would make "a real and lasting difference" to people's lives in the region and emphasised that increasing surgical capacity in both locations was a priority for the Irish government."These investments align with our Ambulatory Elective Day Care Strategy and the National Cancer Control Programme," Carroll MacNeill said."They will ensure that patients in the northwest have timely access to high-quality surgical and oncology care."
Hope to be operational 'within two years'
The minister visited Letterkenny University Hospital on Monday to make the announcement. "This was the right decision— not because of a series of meetings, but because, from a data perspective and from a future planning perspective, this was simply the right decision," Carroll MacNeill said. "It's not anything political - this is the right thing for Donegal - this is the right thing for the north west and I hope we'll see the benefits of these two surgical hubs which will deliver quicker surgeries for people in a very short time."Carroll MacNeill said she hoped both hubs would be operational within two years.
Regional executive officer for HSE west and north west, Tony Canavan, said the new units could help reduce waiting lists for elective procedures in Donegal and Sligo, but said questions remained over staffing the facilities. "In Letterkenny, the hub we're proposing to develop will also include day beds for people receiving oncology treatments—15 brand new beds, along with 15 replacement beds," he explained."That will mean people from Donegal can receive their chemotherapy close to home and will be able to plan for that in the future as well."However, Mr Canavan cautioned that staffing the new units would be a "challenge".
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Telegraph
5 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Streeting should ‘channel Thatcher' and introduce prostate screening
Wes Streeting should 'channel Margaret Thatcher ' and introduce screening for prostate cancer without delay, one of the world's leading experts has said. Prof Jonathan Waxman, the founder of the charity Prostate Cancer UK, says the Health Secretary should learn from Thatcher's decision to introduce routine mammograms for women, which he said had saved 3,000 lives a year since they were introduced in 1988. The Telegraph has launched a campaign calling for the introduction of targeted screening for prostate cancer so those at high risk are automatically offered tests. Prostate Cancer UK has submitted evidence in favour of the policy to the UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC), which is currently considering the matter, with a decision expected later this year. Writing for The Telegraph, Prof Waxman said: 'There are interesting parallels between the prostate cancer and breast cancer screening stories. 'In the 1970s, before breast cancer screening was introduced by Government dictat, the medical consensus was, and, you have guessed it, that early diagnosis through screening mammography would not save lives. 'Mrs T, regardless of the medical consensus, waved her handbag at the doctors, ignored the consensus, and launched a screening programme for breast cancer. And the result? Screening mammography, together with treatment advances, has led to a massive improvement in survival from breast cancer. 'Before screening, just 65 per cent of patients with breast cancer survived and now over 80 per cent are cured as a result of early detection and better treatment. 'And how does this improvement manifest in the real world? Around 3,000 fewer women die each year in the UK from breast cancer than before the screening programme was introduced.' The emeritus professor at Imperial College London said Prostate Cancer UK led a consortium of men's health charities to collectively inform the committee on the importance of targeted screening for those at highest risk. But he said the NHS should act now so that GPs do far more to help men at risk of prostate cancer. He urged the NHS to rewrite its guidance so that family doctors are told to proactively start conversations with men about the PSA blood tests which can detect the disease. Current guidance says that men can ask for a test, though some GPs rebuff them. For younger men, including those with a family history of disease, offering a test is down to the clinical judgment of GPs about. In both cases, the onus is on patients to seek help in the first place, with many men including those with family histories of prostate cancer unaware they are at heightened risk of the disease. 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'The UK National Screening Committee is looking at this as a priority – including reviewing the evidence for screening men with a family history of prostate cancer. 'While the review is taking place we are getting on with improving cancer treatment and prevention, as well as funding tens of millions of pounds of research – GPs should consider risk factors and use clinical judgment when considering if patients need a prostate cancer test.' Prostate cancer is a lot more than a nuisance By Jonathan Waxman Sixty years ago, around 10,000 people in the UK were diagnosed annually with prostate cancer. Currently over 50,000 men are diagnosed each year and prostate cancer has the dreadful distinction of being the commonest cancer in men. In parallel, the number of prostate cancer deaths has increased from 3,300 to over 12,000 men annually. So, what to do? We can hope that the treatment of prostate cancer will improve and improve, and cures are found. Treatment is getting better. 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Before screening, just 65 per cent of patients with breast cancer survived and now over 80 per cent are cured as a result of early detection and better treatment. And how does this improvement manifest in the real world? Around 3000 fewer women die in the UK from breast cancer each year than before the screening programme was introduced. To return to the debate on screening for prostate cancer. We are now at a critical inflection point in the history of prostate cancer screening. Last year, Prostate Cancer UK published research that showed prostate cancer diagnosis is safer and more accurate than ever before, and this in part is thanks to research the charity funded leading to MRI – Magnetic Resonance Imaging – being introduced into the diagnostic pathway. The National Screening Committee, under the iron baton of its excellent chair, is currently deliberating on the evidence for and against screening for prostate cancer and will issue a report this year. 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BBC News
2 hours ago
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City of London sexual health clinic on Leadenhall Street to close
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Telegraph
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Life-saving therapies made at your bedside, not hundreds of miles away,' he said. 'Our Plan for Change promised to build an NHS fit for the future. Today we're delivering on that pledge by bringing cutting-edge care directly to patients when they need it most. 'This type of therapy means patients can be treated and return home more quickly.' One example of a personalised treatment that is set to become more accessible for patients is CAR-T cancer therapy. It involves genetically modifying a blood cancer patients' immune cells so that the immune system recognises and kills the cancer cells that would otherwise go undetected by the body and continue to spread. Previously, hospitals were only able to offer these treatments through complicated, one-off arrangements. The changes have already come into effect after the legislation, known as The Human Medicines (Amendment) (Modular Manufacture and Point of Care) Regulations 2025, was passed last month. It covers a range of innovations, including cell and gene therapies, tissue-engineered treatments, 3D printed products, blood products, and medicinal gases. Lord Vallance, the science minister and Government's former chief scientific officer, said the 'world-first framework gives the NHS and innovators a clear, safe way to bring advanced treatments from the lab to the patient's bedside'. 'It's a powerful example of how smart regulation can help more patients benefit from the best of British science.' 'Modern medicine needs a modern delivery system' By Lawrence Tallon For most medicines, the system works well enough. Medicines are made in bulk, boxed up, and shipped off to where they're needed in the world. It's how care has been delivered for decades. But a new generation of personalised therapies is beginning to challenge that model – and unless we adapt, patients could miss out. Some of these advanced therapies are made using a person's own cells. Others are built around their genetic code. A few are so sensitive they can't be frozen or stored – they have to be given to the patient within mere minutes of being made. That's a world away from how medicines are typically mass-made and distributed today. In these cases, delays can be critical. Some patients have become too unwell to receive their treatment in time. In others, the medicine simply didn't survive the journey. We need a more flexible, responsive system that meets the needs of modern medicine, not force the medicine to fit an outdated system. That's why this week, the UK became the first country in the world to introduce a new legal framework that allows these advanced medicines to be made at the point of care. Under new regulations introduced by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), hospitals can now carry out the final steps of manufacturing on-site – under the same strict standards, but far more quickly. That means a cancer patient could now have their immune cells collected, modified and returned at the same hospital. A child with a rare genetic disorder can receive a therapy made at their bedside. No more shipping cells hundreds of miles away and hoping they survive the journey back. It also offers a safer alternative for people too unwell to travel, or whose immune systems make hospital visits risky. 'Supporting early access to promising treatments' This is part of a wider effort to modernise the way we support innovation in the UK. We've shortened the time it takes to approve clinical trials to 40 days. We've introduced new routes for authorising medicines already approved by trusted international regulators. And where the evidence is strong and the need is urgent, we support early access to promising treatments. We're paying particular attention to rare diseases, where patients often face the longest waits for new treatments. While each condition may affect only a few people, the overall impact is large: around 3.5 million people in the UK, and an estimated 300 million globally, live with a rare condition. Yet developing treatments is often more difficult, with fewer clinical trial participants and less commercial return. That's why we're offering targeted support. For companies working on rare disease therapies, we've reduced or waived fees and increased access to expert scientific advice. The aim is to make it simpler and more affordable to bring forward safe treatments where there is high need and few other options. We're also supporting smarter ways to generate evidence. For very rare conditions, large-scale trials aren't always possible. We're working with researchers to use high-quality real-world data, like NHS records and patient registries, so that safe and effective treatments aren't held back for lack of traditional trial data. Medical innovation doesn't end with discovery or what's in the vial. It's also about tackling the barriers that stop new treatments reaching patients. That means creating a safe system built for tomorrow's medicines – especially for people with the fewest options – whether by changing how they're approved, how trials are run, or how evidence is gathered. After all, a life-changing treatment only matters because we can deliver it when and where the person needs it.
