NKF to open S$12m renal centre with counselling, wound care, other services
An artist impression of the S$12 million integrated renal centre that will be built in Corporation Road. Source: NKF
SINGAPORE — The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) will be setting up Singapore’s largest integrated renal centre, which will provide not just standard dialysis treatment but also a full suite of services for renal patients, including counselling, wound care for those with diabetes and kidney-related outpatient procedures.
The proposed S$12 million one-stop renal care centre will have 10 times the capacity of an average NKF dialysis centre, with 200 dialysis stations to accommodate 2,000 patients.
The centre will also provide training and better support for patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis, as well as minor procedures such as catheter insertion for such patients, which are usually done in hospitals, community education and preventive activities.
Peritoneal dialysis (PD), commonly known as water dialysis, is an alternative treatment to the standard haemodialysis treatment, which uses a machine, commonly known as blood dialysis.
PD is administered into the abdomen through a permanent tubing, and gives patients more control and mobility because it may be carried out at home, at work or on trips, but requires careful training and supervision.
NKF chief executive Edmund Kwok told the press that this push to support patients who choose PD also helps to free up space at dialysis centres and keep patients employed: “One reason people have shied away from it is (that) they’re not very confident doing it themselves … We’re going to support them more to whatever level they need, and then over time, move them from dependence to greater
independence.”
Mr Kwok also said that the NKF aims to have the upcoming centre offer some dialysis and wellness services by late 2017 as its first phase of development.
It will be built at Corporation Road, at a site now occupied by the old Jurong Police Division headquarters, next to Parc Vista condominium.
“The idea is to do more of these things so that it becomes more convenient and frees up the very, very important places in the hospitals,” he said.
There are now 400 patients who opt for PD, Mr Kwok said, up from the 330 reported in TODAY last February. This figure still pales in comparison with the 5,912 people receiving dialysis, inclusive of PD, at the end of 2014, shown by the latest figures from The Renal Registry’s interim report for 1999-2014.
NKF will open two more dialysis centres by the end of this year, bringing the total number to 31 centres, which will cost S$120 million to operate.
NKF’s latest dialysis centre at Jurong West Street 91 was funded by a S$2.2 million donation from The Sirivadhanabkahdi Foundation.
First announced by the NKF in 2014, it will be the first to offer night dialysis sessions from 10pm to 6am. Each session will last six to eight hours, compared to the usual four hours during the day shifts.
Night sessions will be offered also at a second centre in Hougang from next month, Mr Kwok said.
Dialysis patient Madam Rafiah Aspagi, 61, opted for night dialysis early this month so that she could help take care of her grandchildren in the day.
“I can spend more time with them … and go through their homework … In the afternoon, it’s very rushed even though (dialysis) is only for four hours … It’s a sacrifice for my grandchildren,” she said.
CORRECTION: We previously reported that the upcoming renal centre in Corporation Road will be built for S$12 billion and that it will offer night dialysis. This is incorrect. The centre will be built for S$12 million and the night dialysis sessions are offered at the newly opened NKF dialysis centre at Jurong West Street 91. We are sorry for the errors.
