By Howard Campbell, Gleaner WriterIN THE 20 years that she has been head of the Renal Unit at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), Sister Daphne Bartley has seen hundreds of persons with failed kidneys make the weekly trek for treatment. Inadequate resources to deal with this heavy traffic, she told The Gleaner, has always been a worry for the hospital's administrators.
"When the population (of Jamaica) was 2.5 million it was designated that 600 to 700 people would be diagnosed with renal failure, now that the population has gone up hence the renal failure diagnosis should go up," argued Sister Bartley.
HEMODIALYSIS MACHINES
There are 16 functional Hemodialysis machines at the KPH with two of those on standby. Each day, 28 persons have four-hour access to these instruments which removes the patient's blood, filters it of toxins and excess water before returning it cleansed to the body.
Sister Bartley says the ideal treatment time for patients is three days but due to the shortage of machines and the unit's limited staff of five, that cannot be met. "Given our situation with shortage of machinery and staff, the cost of dialysis to the patients who also have to pay for travel, we found out that they do better with twice-a-week dialysis depending on their general condition," she explained.
COSTS OF DIALYSIS MACHINES
Dialysis machines also cost a pretty penny. According to Sister Bartley, one machine costs an average of US$23,000 and they have to be serviced four times a year.
Kidney failure is attributed to several factors, including genetics, hypertension and diabetes. If their condition goes un-treated patients can go into a coma and ultimately die; for persons like Astley Walker who has suffered from the disease for eight years it is also expensive to maintain one's health.
The father of three children and self-employed mechanic says treatment (which includes dialysis, medication and transportation) costs him $7,000 monthly. Because he has to go to the KPH twice for the week, he says it is difficult for him to pick up steady employment.
"Not a lotta employers going to excuse me for eight hours a week," said Walker, whose frail frame was hooked up to a machine with a tube feeding his blood into it.
According to Sister Bartley, the process Walker and other kidney patients go through weekly is a tedious one that takes some getting used to. "They sleep, some do crochet, some read, listen to the radio or watch television ... some do get bored," she said. "But it encourages them to come back because they recognise the value of the treatment."
The Renal Unit was launched in 1969 by Urologist Dr. Lawson Douglas. At the time, it had two dialysis machines which were the only ones in Jamaica, making it difficult to treat patients who came to the West Kingston hospital from all parts of the island.
ONLY FOUR MACHINES
With the establishment in the 1970s of the University Hospital of the West Indies and the Cornwall Regional Hospital in St. James, which both had dialysis facilities, the situation improved somewhat. But when Sister Bartley assumed the role as head of the KPH Renal Unit in 1984, there were only four machines.
Today, in addition to the government-funded KPH, UHWI and CRH there are six other private dialysis centres in Jamaica: two each in Kingston, Mandeville and Montego Bay.
