South needs its own stem cell transplant unit, warns consultant 

Dr Vitaliy Mykytiv, consultant haematologist and stem cell programme director: 'We want to call the attention of the HSE at the highest level to this.' Picture: Denis Minihane

Hospital consultants are calling for a dedicated stem cell transplant unit in the south of the country to end the practice of patients with blood cancers, including leukaemia, being sent from Munster hospitals to Galway or Dublin for treatment.

Consultant Vitaliy Mykytiv, clinical director of diagnosis and therapeutics at Cork University Hospital, said hospitals in Dublin and Galway are already handling large workloads without adding Munster patients.