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Official launch of the Kerry “Health-Link” bus service for patients travelling to the Radiation Oncology Centre, University Hospital Limerick, took place last week. Pictured at the event at The UHL Oncology Centre were, Mazen El Bassiouni, Consultant Radiation Oncologist Mid Western Radiation Oncology Centre, Paddy King, Service User and Mark Collins, Driver Kerry Cancer Support Group. Picture: Alan Place
KERRY Cancer Support Group Health Link Transport has announced the launch of their new ‘Limerick Route’.
The Limerick route which has been piloted for the past year is now ready to put on the road and the group have a brand new bus to dedicate to the service.
The route starts in St Brendan’s Church in Tralee and serves North Kerry and parts of West Limerick. It is hoped that the service will operate on a very similar basis to the one operating to Cork University Hospital.
Kerry Cancer Support Group’s Manager, Breda Dyland, said: “We are very excited to launch the new route with full cooperation from the Mater Private Mid-Western Radiation Oncology Centre. This is a great opportunity to develop our service, after researching what our service users need.
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At the launch were Josephine Earls, Operational Manager, Cancer Services Business Unit, UHL, Breda Dyland, Manager Kerry Cancer Support Group, Trish Kelly, Kerry Cancer Support Group, Ann Harnett Radiotherapy Centre Manager, Mater Private Limerick, Des O’Halloran Kerry Cancer Support Group, Marie Claire O Toole, Radiotherapy Services Manager, Mater Private Limerick, Dan Horan Kerry Cancer Support Group, Patrick King Lisselton Co. Kerry and Mazen el Bassiouni, Consultant Radiation Oncologist, Mater Private Limerick.
“We know from our Cork service that we can provide what our users need on a daily basis. With incidence of cancer set to grow (the National Cancer Registry of Ireland forecast that by next year the number is set to rise to 1 in 2) we see our services being needed even more. Over the past nine years we have played a central role in transporting people from Kerry and beyond for treatment and raising issues relating to cancer in the county and nationally.
“After consulting with our members, our trustees and the Mid-Western Radiation Oncology Centre we are now taking this important step forward to enhance our position and help prepare our service users and the region for the next decade.
Ann Harnett Manager of the Mid-Western Radiation Oncology Centre stated that “getting to the centre for treatment presents a significant challenge to some patients so we are delighted to support this initiative which will benefit patients and their families”.
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Breda said “Kerry Cancer Support Group is dedicated to providing the best quality service for our service users and we feel that enhancing our service will ensure that we do that. We provide dedicated drivers on our routes so that our service users have a real sense of security and point of contact”.
“We would like to thank the Mater Private Mid-Western Radiation Oncology Centre, our sponsors, our volunteers and all of our supporters for their fantastic support over the years. This development for our service users really reflects this support.” To book a seat on either service call (066) 7195560.
