Army helped transfer cancer equipment from the Mercy Hospital to new oncology day ward in UCC

A novel approach to reducing the risk to cancer patients of contracting Covid-19 has seen the oncology day ward at the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) transfer lock, stock and barrel to a simulated nursing centre at University College Cork (UCC).
Army helped transfer cancer equipment from the Mercy Hospital to new oncology day ward in UCC
Left - right: Valerie O'Mahony, Oncology Clinical Nurse Manager II; Margaret McKiernan, Director of Nursing; Dr Derek Power, Oncology Consultant; Nuala Walshe, Clinical Skills Manager, UCC; Marie O’Connor Oncology Staff Nurse; Professor Josephine Hegarty, Head of School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC; Dr Ayman Amasayb, Oncology Registrar.

A novel approach to reducing the risk to cancer patients of contracting Covid-19 has seen the oncology day ward at the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) transfer lock, stock and barrel to a simulated nursing centre at University College Cork (UCC).

This week, doctors and nurses from the oncology ward at MUH began treating patients on simulated wards at University College Cork’s (UCC) School of Nursing and Midwifery in the Brookfield complex on College Road.

Consultant medical oncologist Dr Derek Power said the first 13 patients were treated on Monday and the expectation is that they will be treating up to 20 MUH patients a day going forward.

Discussions are also underway to deliver chemotherapy treatment at Brookfield to cancer patients who ordinarily attend Cork University Hospital (CUH).

The move was facilitated over the weekend by army personnel who came to MUH and moved chemotherapy couches, cardiac arrest equipment, IV drips and all other equipment necessary to the successful operation of an oncology ward to the Brookfield Health Sciences Complex..

Dr Power said the transfer was in line with guidance issued by the National Cancer Control Programme in an effort to reduce the risk to oncology patients of Covid-19 infection.

He said it was a “great example of a collaborative effort” and he thanked UCC.

“CUH and MUH were working together to see if we could make this happen and we looked at hotels and Marymount Hospice and UCC.

"There’s a whole floor in Brookfield dedicated to nursing with simulated wards so together with the HSE and UCC, we came up with the decision to relocate our oncology ward to Brookfield,” Dr Power said.

There were significant logistical challenges including securing a licence to deliver chemotherapy at UCC, as well as ensuring patient safety and medical indemnity, and making sure electronic medical records were protected and that blood results and scans could be accessed remotely.

The transfer of services involves the use of couriers to take bloods to MUH and also to deliver chemotherapy compounds from the pharmacy at MUH to Brookfield.

Dr Power said initial feedback from patients is positive, that they are glad to be out of the acute hospital environment during the pandemic.

An ambulance is on standby at Brookfield, should a patient need to be transferred to MUH. Patients can park in the underground carpark at Brookfield normally used by students and staff as UCC is in lockdown.

Dr Power said some patients may require longer chemotherapy treatment during the pandemic as the expert medical advice is that major surgery with ICU follow-up poses particular problems as it could expose cancer patients to Covid-19 in an environment where the virus can become aerosolised.

Professor Josephine Hegarty, Head of School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC, said: “UCC is delighted to support the HSE at this difficult time and the use of the facility to support patients with cancer to receive their chemotherapy is a fantastic use of the School of Nursing and Midwifery’s teaching and learning facilities”.

She said chemotherapy treatments can affect the body’s immune system and reduce the person’s ability to fight off infections, and this initiative will help patients with cancer to continue their treatment, while at the same time avoiding hospitals during this Covid-19 crisis.

See below for a virtual tour of the facilities:

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