News - Latest Developments

Date:                      Lecture Title:

9th November:              Coping with Cancer
How do I take care of myself while the doctors care for my cancer?

14th December:               Communication and Cancer
What to say when you can’t find the words.

11th January:                    Body Image and Cancer
Making the transition from cancer patient to cancer survivor.

8th February:                    Cancer and the Family
Our different needs within the shared experience.

8th March:                         Sexuality and Cancer
The personal and interpersonal.

12th April:                         Cancer and Poor Sleep
The mind and body connection.

· The Lectures will be held on the second Tuesday of the month from 7pm to 8pm. 

· Location:  The Education Centre, St. Luke’s Hospital, Rathgar, Dublin 6.

· Each lecture is presented by a St. Luke’s Hospital Psychologist.

· To register in advance please phone (01) 4065163 / (01) 4065032 or email: psychooncology@slh.ie

· Professionals and other interested parties are also welcome to attend.

· Lectures are free of charge.  

Four hundred additional cancer patients will be treated each year at St Luke’s Hospital with the most advanced radiotherapy equipment available in Ireland as a result of the installation of four new linear accelerators (LINACS) in 2008, at a cost of in excess of €15m.

The new radiation technology at St Luke’s will improve survival and quality of life for cancer patients. St Luke’s was the first public hospital in Ireland to make this technology available to patients.

The LINACS at St Luke’s Hospital provide a combination of two powerful tools to ensure the most accurate and effective concentration of radiation treatment on cancerous tumours: Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) and Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT).

The Minister for Health and Children , Mary Harney, officially opened the new units at St. Luke’s on 26 January 2009.

St. Luke’s Hospital Blood Bank and Haemovigilance Service was awarded Accreditation to the internationally recognised Standard ISO 15189. The award recognises the continuing quality of service that the Blood Bank of Saint Luke’s provides to all patients. The achievement of this accreditation involved the establishment of a rigorous Quality Management System coupled with an intensive Internal Audit programme over a one year period by laboratory/ Haemovigilance staff.

The Hospital blood bank provides a service on site on a 24 hour, all year round, basis, thus ensuring that the radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment of our patients is not interrupted.

The upgrade of the Diagnostic Imaging Department in St. Luke's is currently underway and will involve replacement of x-ray and ultrasound equipment together with integrating the RIS (Radiology Information System) PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications System) system. Associated structural refurbishment is ongoing.

The oldest conventional simulator (Elekta) in the Hospital will be replaced with a second large bore CT simulator and associated virtual simulation workstations.

These developments are being funded by The Friends of St. Luke’s Hospital.