{"id":1168040,"date":"2026-08-25T06:21:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1168040\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T06:21:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:21:33","slug":"robotic-surgery-one-of-several-developments-pushing-the-boundaries-of-irish-cancer-care-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1168040\/","title":{"rendered":"Robotic surgery one of several developments \u2018pushing the boundaries\u2019 of Irish cancer care \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a decade ago when Pat Molloy was told something nobody ever wants to hear: he had cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t feeling fine, but I didn\u2019t know what was making me feel a bit down. They figured out symptoms before I did,\u201d he says of that time.<\/p>\n

When he underwent a blood test, the doctors noticed his haemoglobin levels were not as they should be. He was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a group of bone marrow cancers.<\/p>\n

Now 75, Molloy says he\u2019s been coming to St Vincent\u2019s <\/a>University Hospital<\/a> (SVUH) in Dublin for \u201c10 years now; they\u2019re like family\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Wicklow<\/a> native gets a weekly blood transfusion and recently started a treatment called Azacitidine, a prescription chemotherapy medicine. He hopes it will reduce the number of transfusions needed.<\/p>\n

Despite the regular hospital visits, he is grateful for the additional years he\u2019s been given. His focus is on living, not just surviving.<\/p>\n

\u201cSix weeks ago I was out with Brad Pitt. I\u2019ve been an extra in the Vikings. I have pigs that they use in the films sometimes. The work keeps me occupied so I don\u2019t think about what\u2019s wrong with me,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou like to get as much satisfaction out of life when you\u2019re alive. You want to actually be alive. I used to always love the dancing and the jive. For years there wasn\u2019t a band that played fast enough and now the slowest music is too much. But that\u2019s the way life is, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PatPat Molloy with nurse Ella Sweeney on one of his regular visits to St Vincent\u2019s University Hospital, Dublin, where he receives ongoing care. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Molloy is one of thousands of people receiving treatment across the State\u2019s cancer centres, which were established in a bid to centralise expertise, improve patient outcomes and to be on par with international standards.<\/p>\n

An estimated 44,000 people in Ireland<\/a> get cancer each year, with the incidence rate increasing due to a number of factors, including Ireland\u2019s ageing population. <\/p>\n

Over 220,000 people in Ireland are living with cancer or had it in the past \u2013 a 50 per cent increase compared to a decade ago. <\/p>\n

Consequently, the State recognised a need to move away from the fragmented delivery of cancer services, which resulted in inequity in the provision, availability and performance of services across various regions and social class.<\/p>\n

Now, eight hospitals have been designated as cancer centres. But some people working in the sector believe the State can take this a step further.<\/p>\n

Prof David Fennelly is clinical director of the UCD St Vincent\u2019s Cancer Centre as well as clinical lead for cancer care in the HSE<\/a> Dublin and South East region. He is seeking to set up a cancer network.<\/p>\n

\"ProfProf David Fennelly, clinical director of St Vincent\u2019s UCD Cancer Centre at St Vincent\u2019s University Hospital, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

A network would see hospitals, health groups and experts work together to share tools, skills and expertise to ensure the best outcomes for patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe advantage of a network structure is it won\u2019t downgrade anywhere. It will support local hospitals. The benefit to the patient is huge, because there would be more clinical trials,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a complex surgical procedure, outcomes are directly related to cancer volumes. The more times you do a procedure, the better you get at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But with these rising cases, problems are arising. \u201cWe don\u2019t have enough beds,\u201d he says, calling for \u201cprotected beds for cancer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the national centre for sarcoma, so if I have a 20-year-old down in Tullamore who I need to get into the national centre here, that patient in Tullamore is competing with the 75-year-old on a trolley in casualty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that more people are surviving, and living with or after cancer, there is also a focus on life after the diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Michael Boland, an oncoplastic breast surgeon, said there have been advances in areas such as chemotherapy and other treatments for breast cancer, but there have also been surgical advances.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Boland, consultant oncoplastic breast surgeon at St Vincent\u2019s University Hospital, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

\u201cHistorically, patients were offered a mastectomy, which is removal of the breast, or a lumpectomy, which is taking out the lump,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we now try to offer patients an oncoplastic procedure which is the removal of the lump, and obviously that\u2019s the primary focus, but doing that in a manner that allows us to put breast tissue back together in a cosmetic manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boland says survival rates for breast cancer have improved. An increased focus has now shifted to the area of psychological recovery alongside physical recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that the person has a really good outcome in terms of survival, but also in terms of quality of life. There\u2019s loads of evidence to support that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continued progress towards these objectives requires additional time and staff, which he said will need to be resourced as demand continues to increase.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of those procedures becoming standard for patients as opposed to offering them in a very limited basis,\u201d says Boland.<\/p>\n

Surgical advances are not exclusive to breast cancer. Dr Nikita Bhatt, urological surgeon who specialises in robotic surgery, said the specialism has \u201cpushed the boundaries in terms of what we can do\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"DrDr Nikita Bhatt (centre) with Dr Laurann Rabbitt and nurse Ping Zhang (right) at St Vincent\u2019s University Hospital, Dublin.
\nPhotograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

\u201cWith the robot you have four arms so I do stuff now that I never imagined we could fix when I was doing my training,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

According to Bhatt, there are a number of benefits to robotic surgery, on an individual and system level.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe incisions are small so your recovery is much faster. You\u2019re back up to your feet quicker. Your length of stay in hospital is shorter. The complication risk for after surgery is better,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of the surgeon, because you\u2019re sitting down on the console, it\u2019s ergonomically much better for your back and it\u2019s a much more comfortable position to operate in. But also my hand can only rotate so much, whereas the robot can turn 360 degrees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhatt says a large part of what she does is also reconstruction, which \u201c100 per cent improves the quality of life of patients\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically between Newcastle and us, we are the highest volume robotic reconstructive centres in UK<\/a> and Ireland,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if you have your bladder out, most people across Ireland are just offered a stoma. In some places, they do an open surgery called a neobladder which is essentially you use your bowel, you fold it and form a new bladder. We\u2019re the first centre in Ireland to do that properly robotically.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lot of the work is responding to these diagnoses, but the cancer centre is also working to see if preventive action can be taken, too.<\/p>\n

Dr Lynda McSorley, a consultant medical oncologist and lead for cancer genetics at SVUH, said around 10-12 per cent of all cancers are genetically-driven.<\/p>\n

\"DrDr Lynda McSorley, of St Vincent\u2019s University Hospital in Dublin, is helping to lead the fight against genetically-driven cancers. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the minority of cancer but there\u2019s a real opportunity with cancer genetics to help the person who I\u2019m seeing, who has the gene alteration, but also to help their family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith screening, risk-reduction strategies, you could prevent a cancer developing. You can\u2019t change your DNA but you might be able to mitigate the risk. A lot of these cancers develop under the national screening programme age, so genetic testing can be helpful to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

McSorley acknowledges that the State is currently not doing enough genetic testing. However, the hospital has introduced mainstream genetic testing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s done in the breast clinic, the surgical clinic, the prostate clinic, colorectal clinic, and in pancreas as well as ovarian cancer. So people can get genetic testing done there and they don\u2019t have to go on my waiting list,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Cancer trials is another area she\u2019s working in. McSorley is on the gynaecological cancer trial group as part of Cancer Trials Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the case at the moment but our plan is to have a clinical trial option for each cancer stage and each cancer type. That\u2019s something we need to factor into our service planning,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

That service planning is something for which Molloy is very grateful. He sees their hard work and innovation each time he\u2019s in the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for the doctors and experts here, I would have been dead years ago. I got 10 years, but now I would love another 10.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a decade ago when Pat Molloy was told something nobody ever wants to hear: he had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1168041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4316],"tags":[1204,105,4348,21110,317006,16,15],"class_list":["post-1168040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-cancer","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-hse","tag-st-vincent-s-university-hospital","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117154711552999938","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1168040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1168041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1168040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1168040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1168040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}