Tenders delay opening of clinic’s dialysis unit

DIALYSIS patients are being forced to travel long distances, often in the middle of the night, for treatment while a renal unit close to their homes is still not officially open to patients.

A long-awaited private clinic promised in Kilkenny is open but its still not up and running because of tendering delays. It means dialysis patients have to travel more than an hour away to Waterford Regional Hospital’s unit which is now working through the night.

At the Wellstone Clinic in Kilkenny, 12 dialysis stations are lying idle. According to a spokesperson for the Irish medical and surgical sales and marketing company PEI, which is the owner/operator of the clinic, the facility “has no patients yet” although it became operational on January 23.

A report in Medicine Weekly shows there are 10 staff at the Kilkenny unit, which would be able to run two shifts per day for the 12 stations - if there were patients.

Fine Gael Party Chairman, Phil Hogan, told Medicine Weekly he had raised the issue of people from the south-east having to travel to Dublin for dialysis when the Wellstone Clinic was lying empty.

“There is the farcical situation where patients in need of dialysis must pass by the door of the clinic in Kilkenny, either on their way to dialysis facilities in Dublin or in the middle of the night on their way to dialysis in Waterford,” the TD said.

A spokesperson for PEI said they have held discussions with the Health Service Executive about the provision of dialysis services to public patients but the HSE was offering the service for tender.

She said: “We are waiting for the tender documents.”

More than €5 million has been spent on developing and equipping two clinics, one in Kilkenny and another in Galway, the medical magazine adds. The Galway unit is also now open.

Despite the delay on the part of the HSE purchasing the dialysis services offered by the Kilkenny facility, the clinic is set to be officially opened by the Tánaiste and Minister for Health Ms Mary Harney next Wednesday.

The HSE Eastern Region said a National Procurement Exercise is underway to increase the capacity of the HSE to provide dialysis.

A spokesman said: “Due to the high charges involved in private dialysis the HSE, (under EU procurement law) has to tender for such services. The procurement process is underway and should be completed in the next few months.

“Any clinic providing dialysis outside of a hospital or consultant led service who is successful in the procurement process will then have to be thoroughly examined to ensure that clinical standards are met.”