Tallaght Hospital Aims to Raise Thousands for Renal Services

The second Tallaght Hospital Charity Cycle which takes place this year on June 25th and is delighted to announce that the Hospital’s Renal services will be the beneficiaries of the event. The event, entitled Summer 99, promises to be not only an enjoyable day out for all, but also a chance to raise vital funds to support Renal services at Tallaght Hospital.

Tallaght Hospital Charity Cycle 2016Kidney damage can lead patients to develop blood pressure problems, anaemia and chronic fatigue. The Renal Unit at Tallaght Hospital supervises the second largest Hospital Haemodialysis service and the largest peritoneal dialysis centre in Ireland. While traditionally all dialysis was delivered in hospital, Tallaght Hospital now offers patients the option of being trained to do their own dialysis at home. For people living with a chronic disease, this represents an enormous benefit as to how they live their lives. Patients no longer have to spend up to 20 hours away from home every week getting treatment, they can have their dialysis at a time that suits them and their schedule, and gives them more time to spend with their family and friends.

Last year’s event raised over €15,000 for Stroke Services at Tallaght Hospital, with over 50 cyclists taking part. For this year’s Summer 99, an ambitious target of €30,000 has been set. Those wishing to take part can register online and pay a €25 registration fee, which includes a limited edition jersey and covers the running costs for the event. The money raised from the Summer 99 will go towards the purchase of equipment that will be used to help train patients on how to deliver this life saving treatment directly in their own homes.

Professor George Mellotte, renal consultant at Tallaght Hospital said, “I am delighted that the Charity Cycle this year will be raising money to support our vital renal services at Tallaght Hospital. The Hospital is one of the most advanced in the country in terms of the renal services it offers. We recently opened a home haemodialysis training centre for HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster area and we empower our patients to take control of their condition by training them to perform their own dialysis at home. Therefore every euro raised will go a long way in helping us to maintain and improve this vital service.

David Slevin, CEO, Tallaght Hospital said, “Last year our Charity Cycle was a great success and this year we hope to make it even better. I would like to commend our volunteers, staff and members of the community who enthusiastically come out to give of their time and fundraise to help those who need support. I am very proud that such an event will once again be associated with Tallaght Hospital and I want to wish everyone taking part the very best of luck.

It’s easy to sign up for this event – simply register at https://www.iregister.ie/v2/events/summer-99-charity-cycle/.

About Tallaght Hospital
Tallaght Hospital is one of Ireland’s largest acute teaching hospitals, providing child-health, adult, psychiatric and age-related healthcare on one site. The hospital has 495 adult beds and 67 paediatric bed with 2,600 people on staff. The Hospital is a provider of local, regional and national specialities. It is also a national urology centre, the second largest provider of dialysis services in the country and a regional orthopaedic trauma centre.

Tallaght Hospital is one of two main teaching hospitals of Trinity College Dublin - specialising in the training and professional development of staff in areas such as nursing, health and social care professionals, emergency medicine and surgery, amongst many others. Tallaght Hospital is part of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group which serves a population of over 1.2 million across seven counties.

A new satellite centre is to be built at Tallaght Hospital as part of the National Children’s Hospital project as a key element of an integrated clinical network for paediatric services nationally.

The hospital’s Emergency Departments catered for 44,640 Adult ED Attendances and 31,934 Paediatric Attendances in 2014. A further 263,929 patients were treated through the hospital’s outpatient clinics in 2014. The hospital’s operations are supported by a community of 200 general practitioners in surrounding communities.