DermView Dermatology opens new hi-tech Lucan clinic with plans to expand into the UK in partnership

New Lucan clinic represents investment of €8M for award-winning company.

DermView, the leading Irish dermatological consultancy, has opened a new hi-tech clinic in Lucan, Co Dublin, with ambitious plans to expand into Northern Ireland and the UK in partnership with the NHS in 2023.

The new clinic in Lucan will have four surgical theatres and five consulting rooms and represents an investment of over €8m for DermView, winner of top titles at this year’s Irish Healthcare and HealthTech awards.

DermView’s technology enables patients, hospitals and clinics to receive rapid, accurate diagnosis from leading Mohs[1] surgeons, consultant dermatologists and plastic surgeons. It provides Ireland’s fastest route to access a Consultant Dermatologist diagnosis.

Mr Eoin O’Reilly, CEO & Founder, said: “The Lucan surgical facility has seen its first patients come through the doors in recent months providing those with skin lesions a rapid end-to-end service from diagnosis to surgical excision and an impressive capacity to facilitate 15,000 dermatology surgeries per year.”

Dr Rupert Barry, Medical Director & Founder, stated: “The new clinic in Lucan will provide a much-needed service for patients. From the various projects that DermView has been involved with in Ireland over the past 18 months, the rate of skin cancer has run between 13.5-20 per cent of the examined patient cohort. When we look at the current 41,000 patients on the public dermatology waiting lists, this means that there are currently several thousand patients with skin cancer on the waiting list and at least 400-500 of these will have a malignant melanoma (which is a form of potentially fatal skin cancer).”

DermView is continuing to forge ahead with significant expansion with plans to open further clinical and surgical facilities around Ireland, enabling DermView to facilitate and treat over 25,000 patients nationwide.

In partnership with the NHS, DermView also plans on opening in Northern Ireland and across the UK in 2023.

A key priority for DermView is taking long patient wait times and ensuring equitable, timely and geographical access to treatment and this comes at a time when approximately 42,000[2] await appointments nationally for dermatology appointments.

Over recent years skin cancer has shown rising rates of incidence in Ireland with approximately 13,000 cases diagnosed annually[3], 230 skin cancer related deaths per year[4] and approximately 50 per cent of referrals to dermatology for skin cancer.

Timely and accurate diagnosis is key to determining the most effective management approach for these patients. DermView have shown a reduction of over 35 per cent – 55 per cent in waiting lists through hospital partnerships[5].

DermView is further utilising the power and potential of its technology and services to focus on Ophthalmology under a pilot programme with the Mater Hospital and HSE with the consistent aim of rapid triage services directly from their nationwide clinics directly back to the hospital.

With over 10,000 patients seen this year among the hospitals that work with DermView, there has been a:

• 40 per cent reduction in dermatology waiting list numbers in the last 10 month.
• 98 per cent reduction in 18-month+ waiting list numbers.

Founded in 2018, DermView has recently secured additional funding of €2.8M from private investors which will further support rapid growth plans across Ireland and UK and launch their new OptaView service in Ireland.

References:

1. Procedure used to treat certain types of skin cancer, penile cancer, and soft tissue sarcoma of the skin.
2. NTPF National Numbers.
3. Irish Skin Foundation.
4. National clinical Programme for Dermatology.
5. Data on File-DermView.

First published by Irish Medical Times. You can read the original article here.