Call for cancer patients to be cared for in single rooms

CANCER patients should be cared for in single en suite rooms because of their increased vulnerability to healthcare-associated infections, medical experts insisted yesterday.

A new position published yesterday by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) calls for the inclusion of single rooms in the strategic planning of cancer services in Ireland.

Chairman of the RCPI policy group, Prof Hilary Humphreys, said between five and 10% of patients admitted to hospitals develop a healthcare-associated infection, with cancer patients at the higher end of the scale.