Northern Ireland<\/a> requiring CAR T-cell therapy to have timely and compassionate access to treatment closer to home.\n<\/p>\n\n \u201cAcknowledges that the Department of Health in the Republic of Ireland has an existing Memorandum of Understanding on All-Island Cancer Services, first signed after the Good Friday Agreement in 1999 and renewed in 2021, which already provides a framework for cross-Border co-operation in oncology.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cFurther recognises that CAR T treatment will not be available in Northern Ireland until 2030\/31 at the earliest, and that access to St. James\u2019s Hospital \u2014 where CAR T services are already established \u2014 would allow patients to receive life-saving treatment within driving distance of home, supported by their families.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThis Council therefore calls on the Northern Ireland Department of Health to immediately begin negotiations with their counterparts in the Republic, to secure access to CAR T therapy at St. James\u2019s Hospital for eligible Northern Ireland patients; the Irish government to support and facilitate this cooperation as a matter of urgency.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n In correspondence to Mid Ulster District Council, however, the Health Minister dashed any hope of CAR T-cell treatment being offered to additional patients from Northern Ireland at St. James\u2019s Hospital in Dublin.\n<\/p>\n
\n He stated: \u201cThank you for your correspondence regarding access to CAR T-cell therapy at St. James\u2019s Hospital, Dublin, for eligible Northern Ireland patients.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI very much recognise the benefits of working jointly with the Republic of Ireland on areas of health and social care, where there are mutual benefits to be gained.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAs you are aware, an All-Island Cancer Consortium was established in 1999 as an output from the Belfast\/Good Friday Agreement.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe consortium is a tripartite partnership involving Ireland, Northern Ireland and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the USA that aims to enhance cancer research and cancer care on the island of Ireland.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWork to develop an adult CAR T-cell therapy service in Northern Ireland is currently linked to the planned development of the Haematology Ward at the Belfast City Hospital site.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe business case for this planned development is currently being finalised for approval by Department officials.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI am committed to working towards this planned development proceeding, and envisage that a CAR T-cell therapy service could be operational in Northern Ireland by 2030-31.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cMy officials have spoken with Republic of Ireland officials, and they have confirmed that their position in relation to all components of CAR T therapy remains that they cannot support additional patients from Northern Ireland accessing this service on a cross-Border basis.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe current position where patients travel to Great Britain for CAR T-cell therapy remains the only viable option for adults from Northern Ireland requiring this treatment at this time.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cNotwithstanding this, the benefits of providing specialist care closer to home for patients and their families are undisputed, and I would like to assure you that whilst this is the current position, we will continue to scope and assess the feasibility of cross-Border service models in conjunction with Republic of Ireland colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Minister explained the situation in correspondence to the local authority, in response to a Motion, tabled by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-678251","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-northern-ireland","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115849632465284999","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678251","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=678251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}