Cancer care in Ireland is provided in hospitals and community settings. The NCCP oversees national cancer services in the public health service. Cancer treatment such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are provided in several hospitals in Ireland.
The NCCP has designated eight cancer centres to provide different types of cancer surgery for adults. These are Beaumont Hospital, Cork University Hospital, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, St. James's Hospital, St. Vincent's University Hospital, University Hospital Galway, University Hospital Limerick and University Hospital Waterford. The majority, but not all, cancer surgery takes place in the designated cancer centres. For breast cancer surgery, there is a satellite unit in Letterkenny General Hospital.
The NCCP’s designation of centres for the treatment of individual tumour types considers a number of factors. This includes having an adequate volume of cancer cases, the concentration of specialist expertise and the presence of multidisciplinary teams. The designation of cancer centres by the NCCP aims to ensure the best outcome for patients.
There is one designated cancer centre for cancer in children. This centre is at Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin Hospital. CHI works with other hospitals to provide cancer care for children around Ireland. There is a network in place to provide cancer services for adolescents and young adults. These services in CHI Crumlin, St. James's Hospital, University Hospital Galway and Cork University Hospital.
In addition to the nine designated cancer centres, a further 17 public hospitals provide systemic anti-cancer therapy for solid and haematological cancers (chemotherapy, immunotherapy etc.).
Public Radiation Oncology (radiotherapy) services are provided in five locations. There are three locations in Dublin, which are all part of the St. Luke's Radiation Oncology Network. These are Beaumont Hospital, St. James's Hospital and St. Luke's Hospital Rathgar. There is one centre in Cork, at Cork University Hospital. There is one centre in Galway, at University Hospital Galway.
The table below shows the designated cancer centre(s) in each HSE Health Region.
Read our frequently asked questions (FAQs) on cancer centres.
Page updated December 2024
