mmg.com.au

Kyabram Hospital’s renal dialysis unit has doubled its service, to now operate six days a week.

A seventh patient started renal treatment this week, and two more are to start treatment next month. The unit began with four patients eight months ago.

The unit’s new co-ordinator Natalie Sheehan said she hoped the service would grow to take on more patients.

‘‘There is an increasing demand for kidney treatment throughout the world,’’ Ms Sheehan, a mother of one with another child on the way, said.

‘‘And there’s evidence, locally, that more people will require the service.’’

She said diabetics, for whom renal failure is a complication, were unusually under represented among the service’s clients.

‘‘Considering normally 50 to 70 per cent of patients in any dialysis unit are diabetic, it is very unusual that we do not have one diabetic,’’ she said.

Ms Sheehan said the hospital had made significant investment in ‘‘upskilling’’ staff, which enabled the service to double.

Kyabram and District Health Service’s clinical services director Julie Russell said Ms Sheehan’s ‘‘innovative and lateral thinking’’ would assist in growing the dialysis unit further.

‘‘We sat here with three chairs thinking we’d be happy with 12 clients, but Natalie certainly has some knowledge to look beyond just those three chairs and what we can do with them,’’ Ms Russell said.

Ms Sheehan trained at the Alfred Hospital and has worked in the dialysis field since 1997.

She was clinical educator for Gambro, a global medical technology company and a leader in developing, manufacturing and supplying products and therapies for kidney and liver dialysis. She travelled the southern half of Australia 11 months of the year teaching at hospitals such as Kyabram.

The health service’s chief executive Neil Cowen said his board was considering including a second stage of the renal dialysis wing to its draft 10-year capital plan. He said stage two would include an isolation room, but was subject to government funding.

The health service is also partnering with Kidney Health Australia to provide free kidney health checks for Kyabram and district residents.

A Victorian first, the service would include analysis of venous blood.

Dr Cowen said the response had been ‘‘amazing’’, with 120 appointments booked for March already. Because of the demand, a second round of free health checks will be offered in May and the health service is placing people on a waiting list.

For more information, phone Kyabram and District Health Services on 58570200.