Bowral and District Hospital has the money to pay additional nurses for its renal dialysis unit but they need qualified renal nurses to come forward.
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This is according to Goulburn MP Pru Goward.
“We’ve got the money to pay the nurses, we just have to find the nurses,” Ms Goward said.
“You need renal nurses with proper training, and these [patients] are sick people and they need to be well looked after.
“We’ve got the money, we need the nurses and I hope they’ll come forward because this is such an important service.”
The hospital’s renal dialysis service expanded several weeks ago, with a second patient now dialysing and an additional nurse starting this month.
Bowral resident John McFadden is one of the patients to benefit from the service at Bowral and District Hospital.
Mr McFadden, who undergoes dialysis three times a week, previously travelled to Liverpool and Campbelltown Hospital for two years.
Mr McFadden welcomed the improvements but said more needed to be done to expand the service.
“It’s good that it’s finally happened. We’ve just got to make it bigger now,” he said.
“They need to have another chair going so we can give the seats back to the people missing out because we’re going up [to Sydney hospitals] and taking their spots.”
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Bowral and District Hospital General Manager Joel Bardsley said the service would continue to expand.
“Once fully operational, we plan to provide services for four local patients, opening morning and afternoon, six days a week. To support this level of care, a staff recruitment drive is underway.”
“I would like to thank the Southern Highlands Renal Appeal as they have been instrumental bringing the service to the area. The community should be very proud.”
The home therapies unit is another branch of renal services.
The team works with patients who can manage their dialysis at home.
“Nursing staff contact the patients frequently, monitor their bloods and manage them in their home environment, said Mr Bardsley.
This outreach service is in addition to renal supportive care, a South Western Sydney Local Health District program that started in 2015.
There were 34 referrals in 2015, 112 in 2017 and this year there are more than 200.
The renal supportive care service is a nurse-led team comprised of a renal physician, palliative physician, social worker and renal dietitian.
The South Western Sydney Local Health District will invest more than $72 million into renal services in 2018/19.
In addition to this, the construction of a three-vehicle ambulance bay is the latest work to be completed as part of the Bowral & District Hospital $65 million redevelopment.
