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New Addenbrooke’s Dialysis Unit at Hinchingbrooke

17 April 2008

A new Addenbrooke's dialysis unit is opening at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, giving kidney patients in the Huntingdon area access to treatment without having to travel to the main Addenbrooke’s site in Cambridge.

The state-of-the-art facility is the third ‘satellite’ unit operated by Addenbrooke’s, joining centres at King’s Lynn Hospital and West Suffolk Hospital.

Wendy Clark is the Clinical Service Manager for Addenbrooke's Renal Services. She says: “Dialysis saves lives, but each session lasts three to four hours — and that can have a big impact on daily routine. If you’ve got to travel a long way for treatment then you’re spending even more time being a patient rather than getting on with life. We can help make that better by providing dialysis nearer home.”

“We’ve seen that the other two satellite units bring real benefits to patients, and I'm very pleased that we're now able to offer the same service to people who live in the Hinchingbrooke area.”

Aubrey Baker, 84, has had three dialysis sessions a week for the last two and a half years - and in that time he's travelled nearly 16,000 miles between his home in Wyton and Addenbrooke's in Cambridge.

He says: “I’m always grateful for the dialysis, but the days are very long. I leave home at 6.30 in the morning and I'm out until the afternoon. By the time I get back, I'm shattered. Addenbrooke's is 20 miles away, Hinchingbrooke is four miles - so the benefits for me are obvious.”

Initially, the new centre will operate on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, with the first patients due to receive their treatment on Monday 21 April. Later in the year, the unit is due to open six days a week, with about 40 patients.

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