Praise for new dialysis unit's'wonderful' environment

A NEW unit for kidney patients has been officially opened at Hull Royal Infirmary by the chief executive of Yorkshire and Humber Strategic Health Authority, Bill McCarthy.

The privatised unit is being run by Fresenius Medical Care Renal Services, which operates 12 similar facilities across the Midlands and the North of England.

Routine dialysis is being provided to more than 400 new and existing patients, who will remain under the care of senior NHS medical staff.

The partnership aims to give patients on dialysis better access to treatment and the unit operates three sessions per day, six days a week, with capacity for up to 240 dialysis patients.

Rosemary Barlow, chairman of Hull Kidney Patients’ Association, was the first patient to be dialysed in the unit.

She said: “I think it’s absolutely fantastic. Before the new unit opened we were dialysing in three separate buildings on the site and now all the staff and patients are together.”

The unit’s 40 stations come with adjustable electronic chairs and flat-screen televisions. Clinic manager Jackie Limon said: “The new unit provides a wonderful environment for patients and we also have new training facilities for patients wanting to undertake haemodialysis at home.

“The new unit has also brought together the whole team who support our patients under one roof and has enabled more opportunity for staff development and training.”

Dr David Hepburn, medical director at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, added: “This development illustrates perfectly how patient services can be improved when the NHS works effectively with other partner organisations.”