Kidney and renal services

Introduction

Renal disease is the term used to describe the various conditions that affect kidney function. 

Kidneys are very important and their main functions are to:

  • balance water in your body
  • regulate your blood pressure
  • clean your blood by filtering waste and toxins
  • activate vitamin D
  • produce an important hormone called erythropoietin (EPO) that prompts the bone marrow to make red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body.

Kidney disease is called the 'silent disease' as many people are not aware of symptoms, which include:

  • tiredness
  • itching
  • high blood pressure
  • headaches
  • changes in urine - such as frothy or blood present, or sometimes reduced urination
  • loss of appetite
  • shortness of breath
  • metallic taste in your mouth
  • nausea and vomiting
  • puffiness in feet, hands or face.

You may not know your kidneys are sick. There are various stages of kidney disease and these are determined by a blood test. 

There are dietary changes and medicine that can slow progress to the 'end stage' of kidney disease. Your kidney doctor will discuss these options with you.

Once the kidneys are so sick they don't work anymore, you will need to start renal or kidney replacement treatment.

Kidney disease and diet

Diet and exercise play an important role in keeping healthy and feeling well when you have kidney disease.

If you have kidney disease you will be told about dietary changes by a renal dietitian. 

The dietitian will look at your protein, sodium (salt), potassium, phosphate and fluid intake. They will recommend changes and you will have to monitor these in your diet. 

Treatments in the NT

The following treatments are available for kidney disease in the NT:

  • acute in centre haemodialysis
  • maintenance haemodialysis in a satellite centre
  • home haemodialysis
  • peritoneal dialysis
  • renal transplantation
  • remote nurse assisted haemodialysis
  • renal supportive care.

More reading

Go to the Kidney Health Australia website for more information


Alice Springs renal unit

The Renal Dialysis Unit (RDU) is located at the Flynn Drive Community Health Centre, 10 Flynn Drive, Gillen, about 3km from Alice Springs Hospital.

The 24 chair unit provides the following services:

  • home haemodialysis
  • peritoneal dialysis
  • renal transplant
  • anaemia management
  • chronic kidney disease management
  • mobile haemodialysis truck
  • renal supportive care
  • nurse-assisted community haemodialysis.

For more information call the RDU front reception on 08 8951 6750.

Opening hours are:

  • Monday to Friday from 7am to 9.30pm
  • Sundays from 7am to 3.30pm.

Fresenius Medical Care also has a dialysis clinic in Alice Springs.

For more information go to the Fresenius Medical Care website.


Katherine renal unit

The Fresenius Medical Care Katherine Dialysis Clinic is located at 122 Casuarina Street, Katherine.

The clinic provides haemodialysis treatment for 56 patients at a 16 chair renal unit. 

The clinic also has two buses, which can pick-up and drop-off patients within 25 km.

Hours and contact details

The unit operates Monday to Saturday, from 7am until 4pm. 

You can call the clinic on (08) 7905 6300.


Nightcliff renal unit

The Nightcliff renal unit provides 2 dialysis sessions per day.

When fully staffed, the facility can accommodate 32 patients per session.

The unit also runs facilities at Bathurst Island and Palmerston.

The medical team includes:

  • dietitian
  • pharmacy technician
  • social worker
  • 2 Aboriginal liaison officers.

Opening hours

The unit is open everyday 7am to 9pm.

Holiday dialysis

The unit does not provide holiday dialysis for travellers.

Contact

Nightcliff rental unit
192 Dick Ward Drive
Nightcliff NT 0810

Phone: 08 8948 9000


Home and community self-care dialysis therapies

You may be able to manage your own dialysis treatment at home or near your community in a special facility for dialysis patients. You will need to be assessed and trained before starting home haemodialysis.

This gives you lots of freedom to continue to live your life instead of moving to Darwin or Alice Springs for your treatment.

You will be shown how to dialyse yourself in one of the training centres in the Northern Territory (NT) and will have follow-up visits from nurses once you are back at home. The training can be from a few weeks to a few months, depending on how quickly you can learn.

You can have either:

  • peritoneal dialysis - when you change bags of fluid through a tube that is connected to your abdomen
  • or haemodialysis - when you go to a special facility or use a machine in your home, or in a community-based facility near your home.

You may be able to have your treatments either at home or in one of the 18 community-based haemodialysis facilities in remote areas of the NT.

Remote community dialysis facilities

In the Top End, there are dialysis facilities in all of the following communities:

  • Borroloola
  • Ngukurr
  • Angurugu
  • Galiwin'ku
  • Milingimbi
  • Maningrida
  • Barunga
  • Wadeye
  • Nguiu
  • Ramingining
  • Yirrkala
  • Nhulunbuy
  • Oenpelli
  • Yirrkala.

In Central Australia, there are dialysis facilities in:

  • Ti Tree
  • Lake Nash
  • Ali Curung
  • Amoonguna.

Peritoneal dialysis

This is the most portable type of dialysis. It is simple and can be taught to you in one week to a few weeks or months, depending on how quickly you can learn. 

You connect and disconnect sterile bags of dialysis fluid into a special tube in your stomach/abdomen. You will have surgery to make a hole in your abdomen for the tube that you will use to connect the dialysis bags.

There is also an automated machine that can do the peritoneal dialysis exchanges overnight while you sleep. This needs extra training and a reliable power supply.

Training is usually done at the Peritoneal Dialysis Centre based at the Casuarina village in Darwin. You can also be trained by specialised peritoneal dialysis nurses near your home.

Community self-care haemodialysis

This involves going to a special community clinic instead of a hospital to have your dialysis treatment. Most major health centres have dialysis equipment that patients can use.

Home haemodialysis

Some patients also have dialysis machines in their own homes. Home haemodialysis training centres are in Darwin and Alice Springs. The training can take anything from a few weeks to a few months, depending on how quickly you can learn. 

The home haemodialysis training centre in Darwin is based at the Nightcliff renal unit. Some people start their training within their usual haemodialysis units before going to the Nightcliff unit to finish training.


Palmerston renal unit

The Palmerston renal unit is an eight chair dialysis unit situated at the Palmerston Health Precinct. This is 20 minutes from Darwin CBD and two minutes from Palmerston CBD.

You can speak to staff about self-care training which aims to help you become more independent in the unit or for home dialysis.

For more information call the clinical nurse manager at the Palmerston renal unit on (08) 8999 3328.

The Palmerston renal unit is open Monday to Friday from 7am to 9pm.


Royal Darwin Hospital renal unit

The renal ward in Royal Darwin Hospital is on the 7th floor and has three areas:

  • 14 bed ward
  • haemodialysis unit
  • transplant unit.

The six chair haemodialysis unit caters for acute, chronic and end stage renal failure patients. As well as acute admissions, it caters for plasma exchange, inpatient dialysis, introduction and education for new patients, and cares for patients with complex medical and/or social issues needing intensive multidisciplinary involvement. 

The transplant unit cares for post-transplant patients and prepares patients for renal replacement.

The ward also provides the following services:

  • renal investigations
  • acute admissions
  • access problems
  • renal surgery
  • peritoneal dialysis
  • creation and revision of Arterio Venous Fistulas (AVF) 
  • insertion of temporary and tunnelled lines 
  • Tenckhoff catheter insertions.

Opening hours

The haemodialysis unit operates seven days a week from 7am to 9.30pm. 

There is also an after-hours on call service outside these hours.

Other support services

Within the renal medical team there is also:

  • a renal Indigneous liaison officer
  • renal care co-ordinator
  • renal social worker. 

Contact

Phone: (08) 8922 8400


Tiwi renal unit

The Tiwi Islands renal unit is in the township of Nguiu, the main settlement on Bathurst Island. 

It has five dialysis chairs and is monitored by staff from the Nightcliff Renal Unit who fly in and out weekly. It is a self-care unit, but exceptions can be made for less able patients who need to return home. 

Contact

Bathurst Island
Nguiu NT 0822

Phone: (08) 8978 3659

Open daily from 7am to 6pm.