CLINICAL SUPPORT
As part of its vision of improvement of dermatology research & patient care in Ireland, the Charity has been instrumental in the establishment of the Charles Centres at University Hospital Limerick & St. Vincent’s University Hospital Dublin.
ST. VINCENTS UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
In collaboration with St. Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH) The Charity provided funding of €1,795,555 to the Charles Centre for Dermatology in order to enhance the clinical facilities for patients with skin disease in SVUH, to which the services provided by the City of Dublin Skin and Cancer Hospital were transferred upon closure.
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL LIMERICK
The Charity, in conjunction with the HSE, funded specialist dermatology equipment, in the amount of €280,572, for the new home of specialist dermatological services at the Charles Centre for Dermatology in UHL, providing new treatments, added capacity and a much improved environment for patients with skin conditions and cancers from all over the Mid-West
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK
The Charity is funding University College, Cork, in the amount of €929,823, to conduct an “Investigation of the effect of short-term neonatal skin barrier protection in the prevention of eczema and food allergy in high-risk Irish children: a prospective, randomized intervention study.” This study will determine if short-term skin barrier protection from birth to two months can prevent the onset of eczema and food allergy in high-risk infants.
THE CDSCHC & THE CHARLES CENTRE
In the vital context of bench-to-bed research and the successful collaboration between the researchers and the consultants in St. Vincent’s University Hospital and for the long term good of patients it is essential, in our belief, that this Clinical Facility is world class.”
– Chairman of the CDSCHC Board Peter O’Flanagan, 2008
From the outset, the Board of the Charity had made clear its view that support for dermatological initiatives would be dependent on fulfilling the principles of translational medicine, namely bringing science from the research laboratories to society. Towards this end the Board, having established the principles that would underline the foundation of the Charles Institute turned its attention to improving the clinical facilities for patients with skin disease in St. Vincent’s University Hospital to which the services provided by the City of Dublin Skin and Cancer Hospital had been moved on its closure in 2006.
The final plan, which retained the dermatological services provided in the Hospital, incorporated additional space that effectively doubled the area for the provision of diagnostic and therapeutic facilities for patients with skin disease, while also providing easy direct access for patients. It was agreed this building would be named The Charles Centre, which in conjunction with The Charles Institute in University College Dublin provides a translational duality that fulfills the aspirations of the City of Dublin Skin and Cancer Hospital Charity.