July 16, 2014
A telehealth service has been set up by the renal unit at Kingaroy Hospital to help improve services for chronic kidney disease patients living in Cherbourg.
Newly appointed nurse practitioner Andrea Rolfe has been working with community members across the South Burnett to provide renal services closer to their homes.
One of her most recent projects has been the telehealth service for Cherbourg.
“It’s hoped by expanding services patients can be identified and managed at much earlier stage of their kidney disease,” Ms Rolfe said.
The six-chair renal unit at the Kingaroy Hospital provides haemodialysis for 18 people.
“On Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday we are able to have six patients in the morning, then an additional six patients in the afternoon,” Ms Rolfe said.
“On the other days of the week, including Saturdays, six patients are catered for in a single-day shift.
“Patients who receive this treatment locally have said that their quality of life has improved.”
Ms Rolfe also works closely with Toowoomba Hospital’s Senior Staff Specialist and Consultant Nephrologist Doctor Sree Krishna Venuthurupalli to manage renal patients receiving haemodialysis and those with chronic kidney disease.
