Mercy foundation appeals for €4.5m to fund cancer services

CORK people have been urged to help ensure vital frontline services for children, cancer sufferers and the elderly continue by donating a massive €4.5 million to a leading charity over the next three years.

The Mercy University Hospital (MUH) foundation has set the ambitious target as part of its three-year development plan.

Since it was set up in 2007, the group — which is separate to the Cork University Hospital (CUH) foundation, which is currently the subject of a lengthy internal HSE audit — has raised €4.7m through a series of fundraising-related projects and private donations.

This money has been used at the request of donors to pay for services that are making life-changing differences on a daily basis to hundreds of patients.

Speaking at the launch of the MUH foundation’s 2011-2013 plan yesterday group chief executive, Micheál Sheridan, asked Cork people to continue providing funds despite the economic downturn.

He thanked the public for donating €2.1m last year alone — including one former patient who provided €100,000 for paediatric cancer services — saying these funds are helping to make a difference to patients lives.

Over the past three years the foundation has funded projects linked to cancer prevention, child eye problems, wide-ranging diagnoses and improvements to the facility’s paediatrics ward.

The group’s chairman, Mr Brian Dunphy, said other projects include:

* A new “rapid access” testicular cancer clinic unit;

* The replacement of an 11-year-old CT scanner;

* Oesophageal cancer treatments;

* A new dialysis machine;

* Three life-support machines; and

* The wages of specialist oncology nurses.

Due to the HSE’s financial difficulties, the group said these vital improvements could not take place without the support of the public through charitable donations to the hospital.

Mr Sheridan said the level of transparency in the group’s finances meant no one should be concerned about whether their money was spent appropriately”.

The MUH foundation is separate to the CUH foundation, which has been the subject of an internal HSE audit for the past two years focussing on how charitable donations have been spent.

This audit was completed late last month and is due for publication within the next two months.