News

Kidney disease sufferers to benefit from new Sedibeng dialysis unit

National Renal Care (NRC) opens facility in Vereeniging

Monday, August 12 2013

With the recent opening of a new National Renal Care (NRC) dialysis unit in Sedibeng, Vereeniging, kidney patients in the Vaal Triangle area now have convenient, cutting edge treatment on their doorstep.

Chief executive officer of NRC, Robert Souter, says the new facility is part of NRC’s efforts to improve access to private dialysis treatment. “Dialysis is necessary for the survival of thousands of South Africans who are suffering from advanced chronic kidney disease. These patients have no choice but to have this treatment three times a week. It is therefore of crucial importance that a dialysis unit is within easy reach of them.”

According to Souter, NRC, which is South Africa’s largest private dialysis provider and a 50/50 joint venture between Netcare and Adcock Ingram Critical Care, is looking to expand its already considerable footprint throughout the country. “The new Sedibeng unit forms part of NRC’s plans to bring private dialysis facilities to more South Africans,” he explains.

Unit leader of NRC Sedibeng, Sasa Slongwane, says the facility offers brand new, state-of-the art dialysis technology. The unit, which has 16 dialysis stations, has the capacity to treat 80 patients. Staff at the unit are highly trained and are committed to offering world-class patient care.

Slongwane explains that the kidneys act as filters in the body, eliminating dangerous toxins and producing essential chemicals. Without this filtering process the body would become poisoned, resulting in death.

“Dialysis machines provide people whose kidneys are no longer able to eliminate toxins from the body with an artificial purifying mechanism. Dialysis offers an essential lifeline to individuals living with kidney failure, a condition for which there is no cure and also helps maintain the patients’ quality of life.”

Slongwane points out that the unit offers a range of specialist services including haemodialysis, or therapies which filter blood using dialyser and dialysis machines; peritoneal dialysis, which filters blood inside the body after the abdomen is filled with a special cleaning solution; as well as NRC’s Healthy Start programme. The Healthy Start programme, which is exclusive to NRC, seeks to provide support to patients diagnosed with kidney disease. It also educates patients with early stage kidney disease about ways to slow down the progression thereof to prevent complete kidney failure.

For further information, please contact the NRC Sedibeng unit on tel 016 422 6667/9608 or email [email protected].

End
Issued by : Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA) on behalf of National Renal
Care (NRC)
Contact : Martina Nicholson, Graeme Swinney or Sarah Beswick
Telephone : (011) 469 3016
Email: [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]