Work starts on new dialysis unit in Milton Keynes
07 June 2023
Construction works have started on the second floor of the Whitehouse Health Centre in Milton Keynes. This is an external service delivered by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) and paid for by Milton Keynes City Council to provide renal services to patients in Milton Keynes and surrounding areas.
The new renal dialysis unit will have 16 bays and run two sessions per day. Patients in Milton Keynes in need of renal specialists currently may have to make a two-hour round trip three times a week to the Churchill Hospital in Oxford or Stoke Mandeville in Aylesbury.
Work on the first and second floor is expected to be completed in the early autumn of this year. Milton Keynes City Council is providing £1.3m of up-front funding to complete the initial fit out for the renal services delivered by OUH, who will repay the Council as part of an enhanced rent agreement.
Jason Dorsett, Chief Finance Officer, Oxford University Hospitals, said: "This new service in Milton Keynes will be life changing for our dialysis patients who currently have to travel to Oxford or Stoke Mandeville for treatment. The new unit should be fully operational in the autumn and will see around 64 patients a month."
Charlotte Turner, Matron Renal Medicine, Oxford University Hospitals, said: "The opening of the Whitehouse Dialysis unit in Milton Keynes is an exciting venture for the Oxford Kidney Unit and OUH, and it will be our first stand-alone dialysis unit. We will be moving patients that are currently travelling to Oxford for their treatment to the new unit, which will have a huge impact on these patients and the time that they will get back from the reduced travel.
"The unit will open to 32 patients initially, which will allow us to have about 384 dialysis treatments monthly. When we are fully open, we will be able to treat 64 patients, which will lead to 768 treatments every month."
Dr Ian Reckless, Medical Director, Milton Keynes University Hospital, said: "We have a strong collaboration with Oxford University Hospitals for the treatment of kidney disease, including renal dialysis, going back over twenty years. The demand for dialysis services has grown over the years along with our city, and some local residents have had to travel to another unit for dialysis.
"Renal dialysis can be gruelling and involves up to three half-day sessions per week. We are delighted that with the support of Milton Keynes City Council, Oxford University Hospitals is developing new capacity at the fabulous Whitehouse Health Centre, here in Milton Keynes."
