THREE times a week Barbara and Philip Clarke would wake up at 4am to travel 130km one-way for dialysis.
The Moss Vale couple travelled to Concord Hospital for the past nine months so Barbara could receive her treatment.
The Southern Highlands Renal Appeal (SHRA) members are angry that the couple had to travel at all after they had raised money for a dialysis machine at Bowral Hospital.
SHRA chairman Bob Barrett said the dialysis unit had been in operation at Bowral Hospital for two years and to date had treated only one patient.
“The unit has the capacity to treat four patients over a six day week,” he said.
“Only patients who could look after themselves are currently treated in the unit.
“Patients who could be included are those who do not wish to dialyse at home and do not wish to insert the cannulas into their own body. And those who for some medical/physical reason cannot operate the machine or clamps for example arthritis.”
For the past eight years residents and businesses of the Highlands had contributed donations to the SHRA to help establish a dialysis unit at the hospital.
A Sydney South West Area Health Service (SSWAHS) spokesperson said the service was extremely grateful for the $105,000 it received from the Southern Highlands Renal Appeal to establish the unit at Bowral Hospital as an addition to existing renal services across the Area Health Service.
“The unit has one chair available for patients who are able to self-dialyse,” she said.
The crux of the situation is the self-dialyse.
Barbara would have trouble self-dialysing because of arthritis and Philip doesn’t feel comfortable enough to do it for her, so they have had to travel thousands of kilometres to get a nurse to do it for them.
Philip said he was told he would master the home dialysis course within two months.
“If they could teach me in two months why couldn’t they teach a nurse,” he said.
“Barbara can’t do it because she has a fistula in her right arm, and she is right-handed and she has arthritis.
“And at this stage I am not confident of doing it.”
Barbara added that she wouldn’t want Philip to do it.
“My veins move in the top of my arm,” she said.
“In hospital they have to get the head nurse to do it.”
Mr Barrett said they are willing to train Barbara and Philip in home dialysis but they aren’t willing to provide a nurse at Bowral Hospital.
“In regards to training, it takes six weeks, three days a week to train a lay person to look after a patient at home,” he said.
“How long and at what cost would it take to train a registered nurse?”
SSWAHS spokesperson said patients who are too unwell to manage their dialysis themselves need specialist care.
“Bowral Hospital is networked with larger hospitals like Campbelltown where patients can receive their dialysis in a dedicated unit staffed by renal physicians and specialist nurses,” she said.
“All Area Health Services have to give careful consideration to how to best allocate resources. We constantly strive to ensure services are provided to communities where they are needed the most, and can be delivered safely.”
The Clarkes now have to travel to Campbelltown Hospital - still an 80km round journey - three times a week.
Goulburn MP Pru Goward has taken up the cause and presented the Health Minister with the concerns of the Clarkes and SHRA.
Ms Goward said Barbara is a classic case of someone who should be able to go to Bowral Hospital.
“I think it is an open and shut case because they expect you to do it,” she said.
“If it is good enough for Barbara to do, it is good enough for a nurse.”
Email a friend