- Work has been completed on a new $4.755 million, four-chair assisted renal haemodialysis unit at Kowanyama
- Three patients are expected to start dialysing at Kowanyama initially.
- The Kowanyama dialysis unit is the fifth such unit in the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service region and is as an extension to the existing Kowanyama Primary Health Care Centre.
A new four-chair assisted renal dialysis unit has been completed at Kowanyama.
The first patient – who will be returning from Cairns – will soon start dialysis in community, with up to three patients being able to dialyse in Kowanyama initially.
The new unit has the capacity to manage up to 16 patients as future demand requires.
To begin with, dialysis services will be delivered by renal nurses.
But to ensure a culturally safe and appropriate service, the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service is recruiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners who will receive advanced training in dialysis kidney health care to deliver the service in the coming months.
The $4.755 million unit has been built as an extension to the existing Kowanyama Primary Healthcare Centre and includes consultation and storage rooms and a state-of-the-art communications room, in addition to the four-chair renal dialysis unit.
The Kowanyama haemodialysis unit will be the fifth assisted dialysis unit in the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service region, with units already established at Thursday Island, Weipa, Cooktown, and Bamaga.
The principal contractor for the Kowanyama project was Cairns-based HC Building & Construction.
As stated by Premier Steven Miles:
"This is a really significant milestone for Kowanyama and something I am so proud of.
"I was the Health Minister that made the commitment to deliver a dialysis unit to Kowanyama, so to see it complete and know that patients will be receiving better healthcare, closer to home, is just fantastic.
"Thank you to all the hardworking construction and health staff who have made this happen.
"I know this matters to this community and I am committed to delivering what matters to Queenslanders."
As stated by Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services Shannon Fentiman:
"Kowanyama's dialysis unit is nationally significant – once recruited and in place, it will be the first time that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners will be employed to lead a haemodialysis unit in Australia.
"I am convinced that the care which will be provided will be culturally safe and that clinical outcomes for Kowanyama haemodialysis patients will improve.
"New and expanded services in rural and regional areas are a priority for the Miles Government and the new Kowanyama renal dialysis unit is another example of our commitment to providing Queenslanders with worldclass care, where and when they need it.
"Around 500,000 adult Queenslanders have indicators of chronic kidney disease, and we have seen the demand for dialysis services across the state continue to grow.
"That is why we have invested more than $85.2 million to support better access to kidney health care services, particularly in regional areas, since 2019.
"Our government has also committed a further $45.8 million for additional dialysis treatment spaces across regional, rural, and remote Queensland.
"I know it is tough on the people who must travel to receive dialysis, as well as for their families.
"This is allowing care to be delivered closer to home for many people in regional, rural, and remote areas of Queensland.''
As stated by Minister for Treaty. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and the Arts Leeanne Enoch:
"The Miles Government is committed to increasing social and economic equity, delivering better healthcare, and closing the gap on outcomes for rural and remote communities such as Kowanyama.
"This renal unit is an example of how the people who live in remote communities are best placed to determine and deliver what best suits them and it's wonderful that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners will be recruited and trained to work here.
"Community-led facilities like this are absolutely critical to closing the health gap."
As stated by Member for Cook Cynthia Lui:
"Not all patients requiring dialysis will be suitable to have their dialysis in one of the Torres and Cape HHS's dialysis units or be able to undertake home or self-care dialysis.
"Due to the complexity of their conditions and the clinical requirement for them to have immediate access to highly specialised kidney services that are not available in the Torres and Cape region, there may always be some patients who will need to relocate to Cairns, or another large centre, to access those services.
"But for those deemed clinically suitable, the availability of assisted dialysis services across five health facilities in the Torres Strait, Northern Peninsula Area and on Cape York is a major improvement in their lives.''
As stated by Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service Acting Executive Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Ms Natasha Fretwell:
"This unit not only significantly improves access to care for Kowanyama but also signifies our ongoing commitment to prioritise renal care provision in our region.
"The Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service has developed a model of care that will allow haemodialysis services at Kowanyama to be delivered with the support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners who will have received advanced training in kidney health.
"The health service already has an Advanced Kidney Health Practitioner at the Thursday Island dialysis unit and is recruiting others, including two for Kowanyama.
"We are also developing a training pathway for other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners to build skills to support all our health service's remote dialysis services and other specialist services.
"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners can provide a range of primary health care and clinical activities, including administering of some medicines aligned to their scope of practice, arranging referrals, assisting with sexual health and oral health checks, and delivering immunisation.
"What is important is our Health Practitioners will ensure the teams they work with deliver care in a culturally safe and suitable manner.''
As stated by Kowanyama Primary Health Care Centre Director of Nursing Ms Natalie Anderson:
"Improved accessibility to health care is the core of being able to return people back to community.
"The haemodialysis unit will provide the much-needed support to enable this to happen in Kowanyama and we are looking forward to being able to provide this service.''
The 2020 State Government Dialysis funding commitment:
The funding for the Kowanyama haemodialysis unit was announced as part of a $27.7 million state-wide allocation for the expansion of regional, rural, and remote dialysis services following a commitment made at the 2020 October election.
Further injections of funding increased this total to $45.8 million.
Under this State Government commitment, new dialysis units have already been opened at Ingham and Charters Towers, together with an expansion of the existing Bowen dialysis unit.
Three more units also are in progress for Proserpine, Yeppoon and Longreach.
As part of the commitment, additional funding was likewise allocated to the Cooktown Multipurpose Health Service to allow its existing dialysis unit to double its care capacity from 16 up to 32 patients as progressive demand requires.
Dialysis:
Dialysis is the mechanical cleaning of the blood and removal of excess fluid from the body required to sustain life when the kidneys are no longer able to perform this function. There are two types of dialysis: peritoneal dialysis and haemodialysis.
In peritoneal dialysis the blood is cleansed inside the body using one of the body's own membranes, the peritoneum, as a filter.
In haemodialysis, blood travels outside the body through tubing to a filter on a dialysis machine to remove wastes, excess fluids and to balance the person's blood chemistry before being returned to the body.
