Mid-Western Cancer Support Centre resumes face-to-face appointments

The Mid-Western Cancer Information and Support Centre at University Hospital Limerick resumed face-to-face on-site appointments on a half-day basis on Monday for the first time since March 2020.

A wide range of face-to-face supports, which had been curtailed during the pandemic, including counselling and relaxation therapies, will now be available Monday to Friday, from 9am-1pm, with safety precautions in place for the protection of all patients and staff.

Dr Denis O’Keeffe, Consultant Haematologist and Director of Cancer Services for UL Hospitals’ Group, said the partial re-opening of the Mid-West Cancer Support Centre was long-awaited and very welcome, enabling the provision of important support and holistic non-clinical therapies for patients and their loved ones.

“In making this partial re-opening, we are, of course, keenly aware of the concerns and risks due to the continued high community transmission of Covid-19. We are proceeding on a half-day, Monday to Friday basis, and will watch the situation closely over the coming weeks,” Dr O’Keeffe said.

“These are very important services for cancer patients and their loved ones, which would have been greatly missed by patients over the past year-and-a-half. We are very pleased to reopen on a partial basis,” Dr O’Keeffe stated.

He added: “With the hope that all goes well in the coming weeks, the plan is to fully re-open the centre in January 2022,” Dr O’Keeffe added.

Operating at the UHL campus in Dooradoyle, the Mid-Western Cancer Information and Support Centre provides services and practical information and emotional support for anyone affected by cancer – including patients, their families and friends.

The complementary therapists at the Mid-West Cancer Support and Information Centre are highly qualified, accredited and professional therapists, who give their time on a voluntary basis, to provide a range of therapies and services.

These include access to a medical social worker; sessions in reflexology, indian head massage, massage,

reiki and Ta’i Chi; as well as group activities and educational workshops. All services are provided free of charge.

The Mid-Western Cancer Information and Support Centre is supported by the Mid-Western Hospitals Development Trust, University Hospital Limerick, and the Mid-Western Cancer Foundation, and is affiliated to the Irish Cancer Society.

Anyone who would like find out more about the services and therapies provided by at the centre should contact 061-485163 to arrange an appointment, or visit the Mid-Western Cancer Foundation website on http://www.mwcf.ie/cancer-information-and-support-centre/.

Dan Danaher