26 June, 2025
L-R Prof Maeve Lowery, Academic Director, TSJCI, Trish Farrell, TSJCI PRG Member, Mary Day, CEO, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Minister for Health, Dr Linda Doyle, Provost, Prof John Kennedy, Medical Director, TSJCI
Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute (TSJCI) is Ireland’s first Comprehensive Cancer Centre designated by the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI).
The Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute (TSJCI) has become the first and only cancer centre in Ireland to be accredited as a Comprehensive Cancer Centre. This prestigious award from the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) is the culmination of almost a decade’s work at Dublin’s biggest hospital, St James’s Hospital, and Ireland’s leading research university, Trinity College Dublin. Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, was guest of honour today at an event in St James’s Hospital to announce the award.
The OECI accreditation and designation programme is designed to enhance the quality of cancer care by promoting multidisciplinary, patient-centred care and facilitating the integration of research, education and clinical practice. On 13th June, 2025 the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute formally received their Comprehensive Cancer Centre Accreditation and Designation award from the OECI.
Comprehensive Cancer Centres are the top-tier cancer centres in Europe, excelling in research, treatment, and patient care across all aspects of cancer, from prevention to survivorship. We join an international network including the Karolinska CCC in Sweden, Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital in the UK and The Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, in achieving Comprehensive Cancer Centre status.
Minister Carroll MacNeill said, “I am really proud to celebrate the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute's remarkable achievement in becoming Ireland's first and only accredited Comprehensive Cancer Centre. This prestigious recognition, by the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes, is a testament to the dedication and excellence of the teams at St James’s Hospital and Trinity College Dublin”.
Speaking about the award Prof John Kennedy, Medical Director TSJCI, said ‘Achieving the status of an internationally designated and recognised Comprehensive Cancer Centre is the result of years of work by dedicated and committed staff providing the highest standards of clinical care in an environment focussed on research, education and continuous improvement. Patients can be confident that the care they receive in such an institution has been evaluated by international experts and found to be of the highest quality”.
Prof Maeve Lowery, Academic Director, TSJCI stated “Designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Centre by OECI demonstrates that our achievements in cancer research, education and patient care are equal to the top centres in Europe. We can build on this framework to drive forward innovation in cancer research and translate new findings into improvements in patient centred cancer care.”
The achievement of Comprehensive Cancer Centre accreditation results from an undertaking by Trinity College Dublin and St James’s Hospital to establish the Cancer Institute in 2016. The Institute was developed to integrate innovative and ground breaking cancer science with patient-focussed clinical care, through the translation of key research findings into advances for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Having achieved accreditation as the first Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Ireland we hope that the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute can provide national leadership, contribute to a decrease in cancer incidence and mortality in Ireland, and be a standard bearer for excellence in cancer care.
We are committed to harnessing all of the very considerable expert clinical and scientific resources we have available to us to benefit cancer patients and their families locally, nationally and internationally.
For more information on the OECI please see: https://www.oeci.eu/