Our first patients’ received dialysis in May 1989 after Dr Roger Greenwood introduced renal services at the Lister hospital in Stevenage in December 1988.
We have 25 stations in our haemodialysis unit at the Lister, located next to the hospital’s main entrance. Our haemodialysis unit was extended recently to give patients more space, as well as more comfortable surroundings.
We also have 26 beds dedicated to inpatient nephrology (renal/kidney medicine) on level six in the Lister’s main tower block. This houses facilities for acute haemodialysis.
In 2014 we were proud to open our Renal Research Institute; it was named posthumously after patient Lee Haynes, whose family was instrumental in the fundraising effort required to develop the facility.
To give our patients more choice we have a home therapy unit (peritoneal dialysis and home haemodialysis), which is next to our haemodialysis unit on level three at the Lister. Haemodialysis patients can also take part in the Shared Care programme, which encourages and enables patients to participate in their dialysis.
Dialysis facilities are also provided at St Albans City Hospital (16 stations), Chiltern Kidney Centre, Dunstable (23 stations), Bedford Dialysis Unit on Napier Road, (16 stations) and Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow (12 stations).
Our renal service is recognised as a specialist referral centre for renal medicine serving most of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and parts of Essex.
We provide a range of services including the advanced kidney care clinic, supporting patients before they start dialysis, a psychological support service, a social work service, and a Young Adult Service for patients aged 16 – 25 years. Our team of specialist dieticians provide expert advice on diet and fluid restrictions.
Patients are prepared for kidney transplants by the renal transplant team who work closely with the transplant centres at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, along with London’s Royal Free and Hammersmith hospitals. Our patient information leaflets provide detailed information about kidney transplantation and the process for those patients waiting for a transplant. We also have a patient information leaflet about the process of living donation.
The Trust works with Clinical Computing UK Limited to process renal patient information.
For more information about how Clinical Computing UK Limited to process your information, please see their website here and their Privacy Notice here.
We may receive information from your General Practitioner (GP) or other primary care provider for the purposes of providing a virtual renal consultation and to contribute to providing you direct care. When we do so, we will only process the information that is necessary and not process your Personal Data for any further purposes. Our trusted Data Processor for this purpose is The Phoenix Partnership (Leeds) Ltd. For more information on please see their Privacy Policy. The Trust will receive your Personal Data for this purpose in accordance with the My Care Record Information Sharing Agreement. For more information on this sharing, please see the Privacy Statement.
