Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

St. Vincent’s University Hospital is the designated national adult referral centre for patients with cystic fibrosis and currently provides services for over 300 adult patients. The designated in-patient and day care cystic fibrosis unit in the new seven-storey Nutley wing development at St. Vincent’s University Hospital, became operational during summer 2012 and represents a major improvement in the care of cystic fibrosis patients in Ireland. This unit provides singleen suiterooms, reflecting best practice in terms of infection control. It also provides a dedicated CF day unit, containing offices, treatment rooms, together with ten single day-treatment rooms, each withen suite sanitary facilities for treating patients with cystic fibrosis.

Given the unique requirements of cystic fibrosis patients, there are specific processes in place at the hospital to manage their treatment and provide optimal care.

Patients with cystic fibrosis who are acutely sick and need admission to hospital are admitted that day. Patients are automatically admitted to single en suite rooms in St. Christopher’s ward or to the other wards in the new Nutley wing.

On rare occasions when infection control issues preclude admissions to the Nutley wing, patients are admitted to a single room elsewhere in the hospital. The patients are transferred to the Nutley wing once the infection control issues have been resolved.

The HSE has confirmed that the hospital has maintained its commitment to the cystic fibrosis escalation policy and no cystic fibrosis patient has been on a waiting list for a bed. In addition, the HSE, St. Vincent’s University Hospital and Cystic Fibrosis Ireland meet regularly to ensure the system works from a patient’s perspective.

See this speech in context