Asbestos fears overcome as dialysis ward finally opens

A RUN down dialysis ward at University College London Hospital in Bloomsbury has found a new state-of-the-art home in the north wing of St Pancras hospital.
The new Mary Rankin Dialysis Unit will have 30 staff – 20 more than the old ward – who will be able to treat up to 120 patients a day using cutting edge dialysis technology.
The new ward comes just in time for doctors who fear rising numbers of diabetes sufferers might prove an intolerable burden on the NHS.
Work started on the north wing of the hospital in January, but asbestos found in the ceiling delayed the move.
Dialysis patients need to use machines for five hours, three times a week and architects of the new H-shaped ward say extra space between machines will help to preserve patient dignity.
The ward boasts eight of the Fresenius 4008 H worth £15,000 each.
The new machines, the latest in dialysis technology, were designed to reduce human error. The old machines from the Middlesex ward – some 20 years old – have been donated to hospitals in Bosnia, Romania, Nigeria and Jamaica.
Renal dialysis technician John Buakye said the machines were the best money could buy.
He said: “This is the most reliable dialysis machine ever made. It has a much more effective system for removing fluid from the blood and massively reduces the chance of human error.”
Professor John Powell, head of renal services at the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead – the department that oversees dialysis treatment in Camden’s hospitals – said the new ward would ease the burden on doctors as numbers of suffers of diabetes continued to rise.
He said: “We will have more doctors working together and better facilities too.
“More people are suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.
“This is largely to do with the increase in the ethnic population. Ethnic minorities, especially the Afro-Caribbean community, are at a higher risk from diabetes.
“There is a substantial population on dialysis machines. It has been a real struggle, not just for the Royal Free, but across the country.
“The new ward is essential because we needed to be able to provide a more extensive service.”