Renal service unit planned for hospital

A $9.2 million comprehensive renal service and unit is expected to be operating at North Shore Hospital around July 2011.

This follows approval of a three-phase plan by the Waitemata District Health Board which should see construction of the 770-square metre-unit start by mid-2010.

In phase one of the five to 10-year programme, Waitemata renal inpatients treated in the Auckland District Health Board area will be transferred to Waitemata’s care from 2011, and a new renal unit established.

The single level, six-bed and 18-chair renal facility will be constructed at Shakespeare Rd in Milford on the North Shore Hospital site to provide in-centre renal dialysis for people with kidney failure. Renal dialysis cleans blood of toxins normally removed by the kidneys.

Up to 48 haemodialysis patients will be accommodated daily, and a peritoneal dialysis unit is included.

Planning and recruitment for the new renal service is already under way, including the appointment of four nephrologists and key nursing positions.

The service will diagnose and manage all forms of kidney disease, care for patients before and after kidney transplants, and provide on-site support for other hospital services.

An existing clinic to manage and treat high blood pressure, a key cause of kidney disease, will also be enhanced by the appointment of a hypertension nurse specialist.

Auckland provides almost all renal services for Waitemata residents from its central Auckland sites, meaning Waitemata patients must travel long distances three times a week, for four to six-hour dialysis sessions.

Respected nephrologist and clinical leader of Waitemata’s new service, Dr Walter Van Der Merwe, says the new service will make an enormous difference to these people.

"I think it’s very exciting and long overdue," he says.

"We’re in the privileged position of having a clean slate to work from, and the people in the Waitemata area will benefit greatly from locally provided services."

The new renal service will also mean dialysis patients needing elective procedures, such as joint replacements, will be able to undergo their operation at North Shore Hospital, closer to home.

Currently, dialysis services aren’t available at North Shore Hospital to support this happening.

About 220 Waitemata residents are on dialysis. Existing Waitemata renal patients will start transferring from Auckland to Waitemata from July 2011, and all new dialysis patients will be cared for by the Waitemata service from this date.

The entire patient transfer is expected to be complete by 2013, though Auckland will still perform kidney transplants for Waitemata patients and care for them in the first two months after surgery.

Management and governance of the Waitakere Hospital-based renal facility, currently run by the Auckland health board, will also transfer to Waitemata board from June next year.

In the second phase of the programme, additional community-based satellite facilities will be provided where more patients can manage, or partially manage, their own dialysis. The third phase will establish home haemodialysis training and vascular surgery.

- © Fairfax NZ News