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. 

“There is no transplant unit in the south of Ireland,” he said. “It’s a national issue, because somebody else is taking care of our patients. Dublin and Galway are treating our patients. 

"They are already busy with their own workload, and then they have to take a huge number of referrals from us.” 

He warned that patients are forced to travel long distances at a very vulnerable time.

“Ireland is one of the richest countries in the EU, but in terms of cellular therapy, the access is quite poor — below the EU average,” he said. 

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This year so far, CUH has had 77 patient referrals — including 17 waiting for a treatment date — for autologous stem cell transplants, allogeneic stem cell transplants, or CAR-T cell therapy.

Dr Mykytiv, a haematologist, said CUH offered the first procedure almost 20 years ago.

This service was paused, however, following an EU directive on laboratory standards, with the "understanding work would resume when the full infrastructure for the lab was in place”.

The procedures require three steps, but he said that while CUH offers one element, cell processing must be in a specialist laboratory.

"Things are not progressing,” he said. "We want to call the attention of the HSE at the highest level to this."

Catherine Flynn, clinical lead for the stem cell programme and a haematologist at St James’s Hospital, which takes many Munster patients, has seen “this exponential rise in the need for cell therapies in Ireland”. 

"There has not really ever been a formal study to see what’s needed for the next 10 years," she said.

“If it continues to rise, it would be in the national interest for patients living in Ireland to have another centre.

“In Ireland, in general, the cell therapy availability per capita is less than any of our European counterparts," she warned. 

In Galway, Dr Janusz Krawczyk said a national development plan is needed.

"From my perspective, we have a number of bottlenecks for services in the country, not only for patients in Cork,” he said.

Bruce Levine PHD, Mags McCarthy with her guitar signed by more than 70 country musicians, and Dr Vitaliy Mykytiv.

A patient campaign led by musician Mags McCarthy supports the call for change. 

Her father travelled from Cork to St James's in his 70s for this life-saving care. She will raise the issue with politicians in Leinster House on October 7.

A spokeswoman for HSE South West said: "HSE South West is progressing proposals for a Stem Cell Tissue Establishment and Advanced Cellular Therapies Unit at Cork University Hospital, which would support the delivery of stem cell transplantation and future cellular therapies closer to home for patients across the South West.

"While the project is not included in the current approved HSE Capital Plan 2026-2030, it remains under consideration through the established capital planning and approval processes."