26 November 2009
A new dialysis centre will open in the centre of Sutton next month (8 December 2009), so that local kidney (renal) patients will be able to get the treatment they need even closer to their homes.
The new satellite centre in Grove Road, Sutton, will offer kidney patients from Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust the opportunity to use the centre to undergo haemodialysis.
The centre will operate in addition to the renal department at St Helier Hospital and five existing satellite units (at Kingston, Croydon, Crawley, Farnham and West Byfleet).
Joint lead renal nurse Susie Mallinder said: "The new satellite unit is really great news for our kidney patients receiving haemodialysis. Unfortunately, dialysis is a very time consuming treatment and many patients require a lengthy dialysis session three times per week. As you could imagine, travelling to and from dialysis puts even more pressure on our patients and takes up more of their time. This new satellite unit should go some way in lessening the burden for our patients.
"A lot of kidney patients have already looked around the centre and were really pleased with it. We held open days last month and all of the feedback was really positive. Everyone was asking when they could come back.
"The new unit is bright, spacious and really modern. Not only will it make the lives of kidney patients a little bit easier, but it looks good too!"
The centre holds 24 individual dialysis stations, all of which come with fully adjustable electronic chairs and their own flat screen TV and freeview box, so patients can watch their favourite programmes - or listen to digital radio - in great comfort.
The unit is split over two levels, with the ground floor including eight single rooms, all of which come with their own en-suite facilities. These rooms can be used for patients who have infections, for instance, the flu - helping to prevent it spreading to other patients.
