From today onwards, renal patients in the Vredenburg and surrounding communities will no longer travel to Groote Schuur Hospital every week to receive treatment for kidney disease.
This follows the official opening of the new dialysis clinic at Vredenburg Provincial Hospital today.
The new facility has 12 stations and will initially cater to 36 dialysis patients, with the capacity to treat 48 patients. Patients with kidney diseases in this region of the Western Cape will have convenient, cutting-edge treatment on their doorstep.
The provincial government stated that due to the combination of rising non-communicable disease burden (particularly diabetes and hypertension) and infectious burden, especially HIV, there has been a substantial rise in patients reaching end-stage kidney disease. There are also limited resources in the state sector and the current demand is greater than what the province can accommodate. Currently, they said, one in ten patients is being turned down for dialysis due to lack of availability.
They said the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness in collaboration with the Department of Transport and Public Works looked at numerous options to increase access to haemodialysis in the public sector. They added that based on various factors including increased burden of disease, access to care, availability of resources and a previous model that was in place at a much smaller capacity, they decided to enter a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with a private service provider to expand renal dialysis services in Vredenburg.
The bid was awarded to National Renal Care (NRC) – a private renal therapy provider in South Africa that offers a network of dialysis units countrywide. The aim is to provide renal dialysis in Vredenburg and for the service provider to fit the allocated area.
Medical Manager at Vredenburg Hospital, Dr Silvio Morales Perez, said having such a facility in the rural area means a lot to them. “It takes us to another level of care, with high quality, and better outcomes for our patients. For our clients, a service that is close to their home means a high satisfaction, for them and their families, decreasing anxiety of traveling on a weekly basis and not a financial burden,” he said.
Business Development Executive at NRC, Fikile Ntloko, said the unit’s opening is another step towards improving access to quality healthcare for all South Africans in support of the Millennium Development Goals vision.”Collective and cooperative action is critical to achieving our healthcare goals. Participation, dedication, and hard work are the order of the day for both stakeholders to make a success,” he said.
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