The Mackay Base Hospital renal unit is celebrating 40 years of life-saving dialysis service.
Mackay’s first renal nurse Robyn Nikolsky returned to the hospital this week to be reunited with former colleagues and staff and to help the renal unit celebrate the incredible milestone with morning tea.
It was in October 1984 that Robyn began her six-weeks of dialysis nursing training at the Townsville General Hospital renal unit. Fred Davey, a publican from Calen, was the first person to undergo dialysis under Robyn’s care in the Mackay Base Hospital renal unit on 23 November 1984.
He was previously forced to travel to Townsville twice a week for dialysis.
Robyn remained the only renal nurse at Mackay Base Hospital for the next 12 months, managing two patients on dialysis three times a week.
Four decades later, she is in awe how the unit has grown exponentially to 33 specially trained renal nurses across Mackay HHS providing care for more than 110 patients, six days a week, via 21 chairs at Mackay Base Hospital and six at Bowen Hospital.
Mackay Hospital and Health Service (HHS) renal services nurse unit manager Corinne Alsemgeest said there had been a huge increase in demand for dialysis treatment across the region given the rising prevalence of kidney disease.
“In the last three years I’ve seen a 30 per cent increase in dialysis treatment here,” Corinne said.
“In Mackay for example, this means that our 21 dialysis chairs are almost in constant use – over two shifts a day, six days a week. Bowen renal unit, with six chairs, is also nearing capacity.”
Today’s services are far superior to what was available to patients with kidney disease in the early 1980s when life expectancy was limited and referrals to Brisbane for high-level care were necessary.
The second patient to dialyse in Mackay was three months after the first; it was on 12 February 1985 due to an electricity strike. The patient could no longer dialyse at home so she was forced to come to the hospital for treatment.
By March 1987 the renal unit had moved to accommodate three dialysis machines and by 1989, there were six patients dialysing in Mackay.
In 1991, the service expanded to three permanent nursing staff and six chairs. Long-time Mackay Base Hospital nurse Raye Gillard began working in renal then and has witnessed the unit’s remarkable growth and transformation in the last 33 years.
Today, the Mackay unit provides comprehensive renal services for acute and chronic kidney disease management, peritoneal dialysis, haemodialysis and education and training for home dialysis. The renal healthcare team has also grown to consist of doctors, nurses, dieticians, pharmacists, wound care and diabetes nurses, social workers and psychologists, Corinne said.
“It is kind of like a big family in renal because we see patients three times a week and we form long-term relationships,” she said.
“We’re all working to make it as comfortable as possible for patients.”
A new renal haemodialysis service will commence at Proserpine Hospital next year which will be hugely beneficial for patients in the Proserpine, Cannonvale and Airlie Beach area who currently require dialysis and travel to Bowen and Mackay two or three times a week for care.
The unit at Proserpine Hospital will be a satellite service, supported by the Mackay Base Hospital renal unit, and will also benefit tourists and visitors to the region who require dialysis.
