Dialysis Unit Report
Deb Malkin and Leanne Palaster
Nurse Unit Managers
The last year has seen high demand for our dialysis services. During the 2023-24 financial year, the Unit has played a vital role in our patients’ lives, providing 3,568 individual dialysis sessions, made up of 1,780 public treatments and 1,788 private treatments.
We are extremely lucky to have such an experienced and dedicated team of skilled nurses committed to providing excellent service for our cohort of patients. A number of our team have achieved significant milestones in terms of their length of service, including Nurse Unit Manager, Deborah Malkin who celebrated 30 years of service, and Associate Nurse Unit Manager, Sharon Mincher who retired after 24 years at the Dialysis Unit.
This year our Dialysis Unit enrolled in the Symptom Monitoring with Feedback Trial (SWIFT), along with 144 other dialysis units around Australia. People receiving dialysis commonly experience fatigue, pain, nausea, cramping, itching, sleeping difficulties, anxiety and depression. This symptom burden contributes to poor health-related quality of life and is a major reason for treatment withdrawal and death. The trial will test the hypothesis that quality of life can be improved with regular symptom monitoring and feedback to patients receiving dialysis, as well as their treating clinical team.
As we see our patients on a regular basis, we are privileged to establish strong relationships with them and help make a difference through their ongoing renal care. We were very pleased to see one of our patients, John Benwell, undergo a successful kidney transplant this year.
Dialysis patient finally receives kidney transplant
Hastings resident, John Benwell can’t talk highly enough of the personal and holistic care he received at The Bays Dialysis Unit for kidney failure, before receiving a kidney transplant in March.
John had spent many hours driving to and from dialysis units in Rosebud and Sandringham before starting treatment at The Bays, which is in the same street as his home, two years ago.
“Sometimes I couldn’t drive because I had vasculitis, so it was great being able to just walk to dialysis treatment, especially since it’s required three times a week,” John explained.
“The dialysis nurses at The Bays are angels! They are so experienced and attentive in their care, and probably saved my life on more than one occasion by calling an ambulance and transferring me to hospital when I didn’t look right! They didn’t take any chances with my health and looked after me so well.”
“They are so busy in there but made time to get to know me and really took an interest in my life. They also advocated for me and supported me as I lost weight to become eligible for transplant surgery before the cut-off age of 70.”
“I want to thank the nurses but I can’t possibly express the thanks I feel, so that’s why I’m sharing my story. I really recommend The Bays Dialysis Unit to anyone needing treatment.”
