The new ward has 12 dialysis machines, including three old ones, and a ventilator.

The renovated dialysis ward of the Government Wenlock Hospital will be formally opened by Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa on Wednesday.

The new ward has 12 dialysis machines, including three old ones, and a ventilator. Persons with acute renal problems will undergo haemodialysis at this renovated ward. The facility is in addition to peritoneal dialysis unit, which was being used for persons with chronic renal failure.

Medical Superintendent of Hospital H.R. Rajeshwari Devi told presspersons here on Tuesday that the dialysis ward located on the second floor of the hospital was renovated at a cost of Rs. 14.5 lakh donated by Karnataka Bank. The State government has provided eight new dialysis units for this renovated ward, while one dialysis unit has been provided by the Round Table.

Dr. Devi said the renovated ward started functioning three months ago, though without formal inauguration. In the last seven months, as many as 429 patients have undergone 2,073 haemodialysis sessions. Each session would go on for nearly six hours. While dialysis was being done for free for those Below the Poverty Line families, those above the poverty line are charged Rs. 350 per dialysis.

Dr. Devi said after inaugurating the renovated ward, Mr. Thimmappa will take part in a workshop on the “Role of elected representatives in building a healthy society.” Dr. Devi added that Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader will interact with 20 patients who have undergone peritoneal dialysis at the Wenlock Hospital.

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Bharti, who has been on dialysis for nearly seven years, normally went in a chauffer-driven car from Satguru Garden complex at Chendni Koliwada. If she went in an autorickshaw, some family member would go along with her. She stayed with her husband, a son, daughter-in-law and seven-month-old granddaughter.
Her husband Prakash, an estate agent, said that for the first time she forgotten to take her cell phone along. Prakash said, "We have searched all possible places in Bhandup, Mulund, Thane and friends' and relatives' places. My son, who had some work in South Mumbai, took the car on Monday.'' He said she used to go to Fortis every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for dialysis. The Tilwanis have scanned CCTV footage of the hospital, where it is seen undergoing dialysis and paying the amount at the counter. "She is seen paying the hospital bill and then proceeding to the main gate, to get an auto,'' added Prakash.
However, relatives claimed that that she did not leave the hospital. "Bharti was very popular in our society, very affable and always happy-go-lucky. However, in the last one year, she would stay at home after doctors diagnosed her with a kidney ailment,'' a neighbour said.

Deputy commissioner of police (zone VII) Vinay Rathod said the Bhandup police were coordinating with the Thane police and Mumbai Police's missing persons' bureau.

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A haemodialysis training centre opened in April at United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong will enable six more chronic kidney disease patients in Kowloon East to receive the treatment in their homes this year, the Hospital Authority announced as part of its annual plan for the group of hospitals in the area.

The service was first introduced to public hospitals in 2006, and the training centre is the fifth one to open under the authority.

Home haemodialysis allows the treatment - which removes waste from blood for patients whose kidneys are unable to do so - to be carried out in homes for around six to eight hours every other night as required while a patient is asleep.

If the procedure is done in hospital it requires a patient to be there three times a week for around five hours each time. Home treatment therefore minimises discomfort and the impact on patients' lives.

"It's much milder, as we can use the entire night to release water and toxins," said Dr Sunny Wong Sze-ho, a consultant at the hospital's department of medicine and geriatrics.

Patients pay around HK$1,100 to HK$1,300 a month for home treatment, with the remaining costs borne by the authority. Dialysis machines have been donated by the Kidney Foundation and the Jockey Club.

Wong said eligible patients are required to undergo training for around three months to learn how to place needles in their arm and operate the machine alone.

"They have to be young and physically stable … The home environment must be hygienic, too," Wong said.

Yeung Wai-lin, 50, has been suffering from polycystic kidney disease for four years and has been receiving haemodialysis in hospitals. She was one of the first patients trained for the home procedure and is expected to begin treatment in September.

"I can conduct the procedures for several nights at home and then go travelling for a couple of days. I would like to visit Japan," said Yeung, who currently has to visit hospitals twice a week. She has spent around HK$30,000 renovating her flat to prepare it for home treatment.

Demand for treatment for renal failure has been growing in the Kowloon East group of hospitals. There are now 190 haemodialysis patients and 530 receiving peritoneal dialysis - another treatment for kidney failure - including 20 severe cases that might need haemodialysis later.

Hospitals in the cluster will train another 10 patients next year in the home procedure. The quota for haemodialysis in hospitals is 99 after being increased by two this year.

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