Hospital’s renal unit set for £5.8m upgrade
A NEW-LOOK renal unit will be unveiled at a Welsh hospital next year following a £5.8m upgrade.
Work at Swansea’s Morrison Hospital is well under way and due to be finished in spring 2018.
Morriston’s local and regional renal dialysis unit, renal outpatient department and renal day case and self-care service are all being improved.
The refurbishment – funded by the Welsh Government – includes direct access from the wards into the dialysis units.
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board says the unit will provide more cubicles, more bed space and more outpatient consulting rooms, along with a new main entrance.
Medicine service manager David West said: “This redevelopment has been in the planning for some time.
“The unit has been there for many years and had become outdated. It was quite dark and the layout was not ideal.
“But following the refurbishment it will provide a much brighter, airier and more attractive environment for patients and staff.”
The Morriston unit provides care for people with kidney disease across south, mid and west Wales from Fishguard to Bridgend in the south and from Tywyn to Llanidloes in the north.
However, it had insufficient cubicles and the bed spaces were too small.
Following the refurbishment it will provide 19 dialysis stations and a modernised procedure room.
The number of cubicles in the renal ward will increase from three to seven and dedicated facilities will be provided for barrier nursing and for bariatric (high weight) patients.
The day case unit will have one cubicle, three trolley spaces and six chairs.
Along with the new renal pharmacy it will provide a one-stop service for outpatients and day patients who need multiple interventions and tests or medications.
Meanwhile, the number of consulting rooms in the outpatient suite will increase from four to six.
There will also been a self-care training area for patients.
Mr West said alternative provision had been made within Morriston Hospital so patient care could continue uninterrupted while the refurbishment, due to be completed next May, took place.
“We handed the unit over to the contractors in June and they are making good progress.
“They have demolished the internal walls and are changing the layout completely.
“The refurbishment includes new facilities – new chairs, new equipment, and new televisions for patients as they are in the dialysis chairs for hours at a time.
“The renal unit is being brought up to modern standard and everything is going to be state of the art.”
The upgrade follows the opening of the new renal annex within Morriston Hospital’s £60m main entrance and outpatients department in late 2015. This provides additional dialysis machines and other services.
Meanwhile, the third in of a number of new improved local centres for dialysis patients across south Wales has been launched.
Cabinet Secretary Vaughan Gething officially opened the new facility on Mamhilad Park Estate in Pontypool.
The new centres will mean improved facilities for patients, providing improved care closer to home and a better nurse to patient ratio.
Around 500 people are currently using the service provided by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
Mark Jones, directorate manager for nephrology and transplant, said the service had previously been provided in areas that were not ideal for patients.
He said: “These new facilities have been designed with patients and our other partners and are a big improvement on what we’ve been able to provide in the past.
“As well as improving the environment for patients this work also means we can provide care to them closer to home.
“This approach is also in line with Shaping Our Future Wellbeing, our 10 year strategy, which aims provide care closer to home wherever possible.”
The centre is run and staffed by company BBraun on behalf of the health board.
Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said: “We have improved and increased the number of local dialysis centres so that more people in Wales can get access to high quality specialist care close to where they live.
“I understand that in this fantastic new centre the nurse staffing ratio will be one of, if not the best in the UK; I hope it will help a great many more people manage their condition well and fit the care they need into their lives in a way that works for them.
“I want to thank the staff and patients for their hard work and collaboration to create a centre that is great to receive care in and great to work in.”