A NEW £1.5m kidney dialysis unit has opened at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.
Based in the former doctor’s quarters at Acre Street, the nurse-led renal service has 14 treatment areas.
It has been funded by the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT), which runs the regional centre, and was opened by its chief executive Maggie Boyle yesterday.
Miss Boyle unveiled a new commemorative plaque and said: “The facilities are fantastic.
“Working together with the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) on this unit, has been well, well worth it.
“Renal patients spend a long time on dialysis and we are very conscious of how disruptive this can be to everyday life, particularly when travel time across West Yorkshire are added in.
“Providing comfortable and modern facilities as close to people’s homes as possible is a key part of our renal dialysis strategy, and this new unit offers state-of-the-art facilities with room to expand in the future.
“We are delighted to have worked with our colleagues at CHFT on this important local service.”
The LTHT provides specialist renal services to patients across West Yorkshire from its central hub at St James’s University Hospital in Leeds.
It is responsible for running satellite dialysis units on a number of other district hospital sites, including Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax.
The new Acre Street site has replaced the renal unit based at the former St Luke’s Hospital in Crosland Moor, where staff nurse Susan Rayner, of Marsh, had previously worked. After 17 years, she is due to retire next month.
The new facility can treat up to 56 patients in need of haemodialysis – a process to cleanse the blood – twice to three times a week, for up to four hours each time.
The main clinical area has been revamped into a bright open environment and has received extra donations such as television sets and privacy curtains from the British Kidney Patient Association.
Dialysis patients can now have both their out-patient appointments, on non-treatment days, at HRI, alongside their haemodialysis treatment.
The site is also close to the pathology labs, which means easier access to blood test results.
David Wise, medical director at the CHFT, said: “We are very proud to have been able to team up with Leeds on this project so successfully to provide this facility locally for our patients. Our patients now get their care in a modern, purpose-designed building of which we at HRI are very proud.”
