Trinity Med Day is a charitable organisation run by medical students at Trinity College Dublin.
It would not be possible for students to learn without the generosity of Trinity’s affiliated
teaching hospitals and their patients. In recognition of this, hundreds of medical students take to
the streets of Dublin on a November morning each year to say “Thank You!” and raise much
needed funds for essential hospital services. This special day – ‘Med Day’ ends the run of a series
of fundraising events throughout the year. In 2022, we crossed our most significant milestone yet
– over €1,000,000 has been raised by MedDay since its inception in 2002, and with your help, we
intend to further MedDay’s incredible cause well into the future.
Our beneficiaries for 2024 are as follows;
Street Reach : Bringing Specialist Care to All – St James’ Hospital.
This is our major beneficiary to which we have committed to raising 20,000 euro for this year
Street Reach is a mobile health clinic providing Specialist Care to people from marginalised groups.
MedDay would be funding a bespoke fully electric vehicle equipped with treatment space to allow
medical outreach beyond the hospital. This is an extension of a clinical care pathway developed
through Slainte Care that has been successful in preventing admissions related to seizures for
people experiencing homelessness, and integrating Homeless primary care providers with
Advanced Nurse Practitioners in Epilepsy and Inclusion Health services. Street Reach further
expands this existing care pathway to other specialties, with the aim of bringing Specialist Care
from Here (hospital) to There (where the person is). International research shows that vulnerable
population groups have higher rates of premature multi-morbidity, high utilisation of unscheduled
care, reduced access to specialist care services and increased risk of premature mortality from
preventable causes. In fact, the majority (78%) of patients in inclusion health who died in a seizure
have no anti-epileptic drugs in their system. This funding will allow for upscaling of the current
outreach clinics by a minimum of 400% (from 36 hrs/year to 180 hrs/year) within the epilepsy
service alone. This project will reduce wait times and DNAs (Did Not Attend) to specialist OPD
clinics. It embeds the vision of Slainte Care and Modernised Care Pathways – bringing the right
care, right time, right place to the right person. There will additionally be an increase in the current
HIV outreach service by 6 fold, reducing risk of treatment resistance, opportunistic infections,
onward transmission during periods off treatment, preventable hospital admission and advanced
HIV. It will also introduce the ability to treat HIV/HCV co-infection in the community , currently only
available in hospitals, and implement the first Irish pilot for Long Acting Injectable Antiretroviral
Treatment (LAART) for vulnerable people who find it difficult to comply with oral regimes. In the
future the StreetReach programme will have the ability to replicate its model for the management
of other chronic illnesses prevalent in this population.
Neuropsychology Service for Children with Cancer – CHI Crumlin.
Improving access and quality of psychological and cognitive care for children battling cancer.
Cancer is a word no one wants to hear in the same sentence as the word child. However, over 200
children are diagnosed with cancer in Ireland every year. Many young cancer survivors face
ongoing challenges, and are at risk of experiencing neurocognitive difficulties with approximately
50-60% of all children treated for cancer at risk of experiencing some form of neurocognitive
difficulty, and rates approaching 100% for children treated for brain tumours. The most effective
method to measure and report these issues is through a specialised assessment programme which
gives a detailed look at each child’s strengths and challenges, showing how these affect their
learning and social life. This information is vital for creating personalised support plans to help
these children reach their full potential, as they integrate back into their school and community.
The programme will provide reports to families, healthcare workers, schools, and community
services. This will help refine clinical medical practices and ensure better patient outcomes for children and young people across Ireland during and post cancer treatment, and will greatly aid
their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin is the designated cancer centre for paediatric cancer, and
there are approximately 800 patients from across Ireland on active treatment for cancer attending
the hospital that will be able to avail of this service, as well as additional patients, post-treatment,
who attend the hospital for late effect clinics.
The St James’s Hospital Pleural Trolley
Improving efficiency, patient and staff experience during pleural procedures. Pleural effusions (a
buildup of fluid between the lung and the rib cage) are common, and can cause very severe
breathlessness. Drainage of a pleural effusion by inserting a plastic tube (a chest drain) between
the ribs into this space between the lung and the rib cage can help ease the symptom of
breathlessness and can help with diagnosis. This project will improve the experience of patients
who are undergoing pleural procedures, by making the encounter feel well-organised and
controlled. Patients undergoing these procedures are in a uniquely vulnerable position, and
ensuring that they feel like they are in safe hands in an organised system is incredibly important.
Because pleural procedures are often done on the ward at the bedside, the environment does not
always feel calm. The current system which involves senior doctors spending sometimes hours
looking for equipment across different wards is an incredible waste of resources and causes delays
in procedures, which adds to patient anxiety and stress, as well as causing frustration for staff. The
Pleural Trolley will prevent these experienced practitioners from spending less time looking for
equipment and more time treating patients, and will make a significant impact in creating a sense
of calm and safety for patients, as well as preventing long delays, and reducing risk of complication
in their treatment.
The Power of Powered Mobility: Enhance Independence in Residential Care – Our Lady’s Hospice.
Access to multifunction powered mobility can directly enhance the quality of life and wellbeing of
the user and their caregivers/family. This project aims to provide enhanced independence,
comfort, and autonomy of choice to individuals living in a residential setting who are experiencing
symptoms associated with life-limiting conditions. The wheelchair can facilitate engagement in
meaningful activities of everyday life, social participation and choice in an individual’s daily routine
in a residential care facility. Furthermore, one multifunction powered wheelchair can be used to
enhance the quality of life experience for hundreds of residents. The adjustability features of this
chair such as the tilt-in-space function allows for careful postural management for an individual
experiencing pain or fatigue associated with their condition. This can allow an individual to spend
longer sitting in the powered chair with comfort and to spend more time engaged in meaningful
occupation. Adjustability within the powered chair means that a single powered wheelchair can
be adjusted to accommodate the size and specific postural management needs of many different
individual residents over time. It will also benefit resident families, carers and clinical staff in terms
of mobility, independence, socialising, and workload
Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) Mannequin for Practical Training – Tallaght University Hospital.
It is vital that patients with swallowing difficulties receive an instrumental swallow evaluation as
per the European Society of Swallowing Disorders. Speech and Language therapists carry out this
evaluation by using instrumental assessment tools such as flexible endoscopic evaluation of
swallowing (FEES). FEES is an invasive procedure where the flexible nasendoscopy is inserted transnasally into the throat, with the catheter extending into the oesophagus. Currently, clinicians
must gain competence for passing the FEES scope with real patients, which causes physical
discomfort and increased anxiety in patients. The goal is that a simulation mannequin would
provide an appropriate means for endoscopists-in-training to improve their insertion skills without
needing to use a real person. As soon as the model can be purchased, it will immediately be used
by clinicians currently learning FEES. Simulation training using a specialised mannequin would
significantly improve the learner’s ability to insert the scope/catheter so that by the time they first
use it with real people, minimal discomfort will be experienced by these patients. This model
would increase learners’ access to practical training opportunities which would increase the
number of competent staff in the department and ultimately mean that more patients can receive
the best care quicker. This project will have a positive impact in both inpatient and outpatient
settings.
Measurement of respiratory muscle strength in mechanically ventilated patients in ICU – Tallaght University Hospital.
The project hopes to use equipment that accurately assesses the respiratory muscle strength of
patients who are ventilated in the intensive care unit. These patients are at a high risk of losing
strength in their breathing muscles and this can prolong their ICU stay, impair recovery, and have
detrimental impacts on the patient’s physical and mental wellbeing. By testing muscle strength
clinicians can interpret complications at an earlier point and use this information to better guide
the patient’s care, ultimately minimising patient complications and shortening ICU stays. To
counteract the damage of these patient’s respiratory muscles, targeted strengthening exercises will
be implemented. By having this equipment available and delivering the necessary training and
education to the staff in the ICU they hope to be able to assess the prevalence rates of respiratory
muscle weakness in their population of patients. A secondary aim of this project is to gather data
for research and publication, which is an important element of medicine and clinical practice. This
project will enhance the ability of the Multidisciplinary Team to work together, and individualise
rehabilitation and recovery plans for patients.
Hand Therapy Department Workshop Space Redesign and Reconfiguration – Tallaght University Hospital.
The redesign and renovation of the hand therapy workshop involves enhancing the treatment
space for both patients and staff availing of the hand therapy service. This specifically involves
creating additional workstations for therapists, creating a second splinting space, as well as
improving the non-clinical work area in the workshop for occupational therapy staff. On a National
level, this project will benefit outpatient services as echoed in The HSE’s Strategy for the Redesign
of Outpatient Services 2016-2020, where orthopaedic outpatient services are shown to have the
longest waiting lists and highest numbers of outpatient activity. With a complete redesign, the
service could increase the number of staff working and have the capacity to tackle a three year
long elective waitlist while expanding the hand therapy clinic. The goals of the redesign are;
optimise the space, increase therapist capacity, increase patient satisfaction and safety and
improve the overall running of the service. The projections for this redesign forecast a 20%
increase in appointments, which will significantly impact waiting times for our outpatient hand
therapy services.
