Blackrock Clinic celebrates 30 years of medical excellence today

1st Apr 2016

“30 Years on Blackrock Clinic is Still Bringing Hi-Tech Modern Healthcare to the Population of Ireland”

Bryan Harty (CEO, Blackrock Clinic), talking with Vincent Wall on the Newstalk Breakfast show, Tuesday 5th April 2016:

Hospital shapes Irish medical and surgical care over three decades

Thirty years ago today, Blackrock Clinic opened its doors to patients who wanted access to the latest in cardiac and high tech surgical procedures. It was the first independent private hospital in Ireland with treatments funded wholly by private health insurance or where a patient could choose and pay for their own treatment.

The founders had a vision of a healthcare establishment which would complement and, where possible, supplement the work of the public sector health system.  It would do this with pioneering high-tech surgical procedures, medical treatments and ground-breaking diagnostics.

30 years later, that vision has produced an established, leading hospital with an unparalleled reputation. Blackrock Clinic is notable for its positive patient outcomes, many of which outstrip international standards.

Over the thirty years the hospital has been open, Blackrock Clinic was the first in Ireland to introduce:

• PET scanning, November 2001;
• Cardiac CT (Computed Tomography) scanning, 2006;
• Transcatheter Aortic Valve replacement (TAVI), June 2008;
• Minimally invasive mitral and tricuspid valve repair (a form of keyhole heart surgery), August 2011;
• Percutaneous Endoscopic discectomy (a form of keyhole spinal surgery), July 15;
• It is also the first private hospital in Ireland to introduce Peer reviewing software and procedures in its Radiology Department in 2016 to ensure that anomalies are identified and rectified quickly.

In the last 7 years Blackrock Clinic has invested over €150m in expanding the hospital and bringing patients some of the newest and best services which

• Blackrock Clinic’s Emergency Department in September 2010;
• The Blackrock Clinic Centre for Cardiac MRI opened in January 2012 offering Ireland’s first dedicated cardiac scanner. Today, this is one of the busiest scanners in Europe;
• In October 2013, €4.5m was invested in a Hybrid Operating Theatre for EVARs (endovascular aneurysm repairs) via catheter. This approach removes the need for open surgery and reduces, if not halves patient recovery time;
• In 2014, Blackrock Clinic introduced a number of new facilities and services:
• a new renal dialysis unit for patients needing this service;
• Due to patient demand, new Emergency Department was opened which was three times the size of the original ED, opened four years previously;
• €12m was invested in a new state of the art Intensive Care Unit (ICU). It is the only ICU in Ireland to have full-time Consultants in Intensive Care Medicine delivering critical care and which complies with the guidelines of the NHS.
• €7m was invested in a Central Decontamination Unit (CDU) to sterilise instruments and prevent the spread of infection; the unit includes separate lifts and corridors to segregate the transport of clean and used instruments to ensure no cross-contamination;
• Blackrock Clinic’s first, branded, private ambulance hit County Dublin’s roads;

As part of the expansion, Blackrock Clinic developed a 9-storey carpark which brings to 520 the number of spaces available within the hospital grounds.

“Blackrock Clinic has had a significant impact on hospital care in Ireland in the thirty years it has been open. It has invested in and introduced new diagnostics, facilities and procedures to Ireland,” said Bryan Harty, CEO, Blackrock Clinic.

“Everything we do centres on one thing: better patient outcomes. Our focus is on ensuring that patients receive the most appropriate treatment and best possible care when they are with us,” he concluded.