- Tenders have been called for a combined $7.2 million worth of works at Longreach Hospital.
- A new three-chair, nurse-assisted renal dialysis unit will be delivered at a cost of $4.6 million.
- The new nurse-assisted haemodialysis unit will be the first for the Central West.
- The hospital's pathology and pharmacy departments will also be upgraded at a cost of $2.6 million.
As part of the works, Central West Health is partnering with Pathology Queensland to expand, refurbish and upgrade the existing laboratory within the hospital.
The existing pharmacy department will also be upgraded and expanded.
The new dialysis unit will be located on the ground floor of the South Wing of Longreach Hospital, close to the Allied Health service.
Tenders for the combined works will close on 5 April, with a successful contractor to be announced soon after.
The combined works are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The $7.2 million worth of works at Longreach Hospital is part of our investment of around $28 million in upgrades and refurbishments to the hospital since 2017.
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Quotes attributable to Minister Yvette D'Ath:
"The upgrading and refurbishment works at Longreach Hospital ensure healthcare delivery in a facility equipped for the 21st century.
"This is an investment that will benefit Central West residents for years to come.
"Right across the state, we are building new health infrastructure, so our dedicated health staff have the most modern facilities from which to deliver their services.
"Over the next seven years, for instance, the Palaszczuk Government is investing more than $1 billion to replace ageing infrastructure across rural and remote areas.
"These works are all part of the Palaszczuk Government's commitment to expanding and improving health services for Queenslanders no matter where they live.
"Over the past three years, the Palaszczuk Government has invested more than $66 million in additional operational funding to support better access to kidney healthcare services, particularly in regional and remote areas.
"This is allowing care to be delivered closer to home for many people in regional, rural and remote areas of Queensland.
"I know it is tough on the people who have to travel to receive dialysis, as well as for their families.
"This is about providing better care closer to home for Queenslanders, no matter where they live.''
Quotes attributable to Central West Hospital and Health Service Chief Executive Anthony West:
"The development of a full nurse-assisted haemodialysis unit for Longreach certainly will prove to be a major improvement in patients' lives.
"An additional three specialised nurses and an administration officer will be recruited to support the new dialysis unit.
"Nurse-assisted dialysis is a complex service to deliver, requiring access to specialist medical and allied health support and on-site nursing staff.
"For this reason, the Central Queensland Kidney Service at Rockhampton has partnered with Central West Health to support the safe provision of dialysis care at Longreach."
Palaszczuk Government dialysis funding commitment:
The initial funding for the Longreach Hospital dialysis unit was announced by the Palaszczuk Government as part of a statewide allocation for the expansion of regional, rural and remote dialysis services in October 2020.
Additional funding was approved last year for the commitment to establish a dialysis unit in Longreach to facilitate an expansion from an initially proposed two-chair unit to a three-chair unit.
Under this Palaszczuk Government commitment, new dialysis units have already been opened at Ingham and Charters Towers, together with an expansion of the existing dialysis units in Bowen and Cooktown.
New dialysis units are also in progress for Proserpine, Kowanyama and Yeppoon.
Upgrades and refurbishments at Longreach Hospital:
The latest $7.2 million worth of works at Longreach Hospital bring to about $28 million the total amount invested in upgrades and refurbishments to the hospital since 2017.
Previous upgrade and refurbishment works at Longreach Hospital have already delivered:
- A new and expanded maternity unit
- A new day surgery unit
- A new medical imaging department that includes the Central West's first CT scanner
- Upgraded emergency department
- New air-conditioning system
- Upgraded electrical systems
- Extensive upgrades to the nurse call and medical gases systems.
Longreach Hospital is an 18-bed facility comprising 15 overnight and 3 maternity beds, plus an additional four day surgery beds, and is the principal hub hospital for the Central West region.
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.
