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Doobay Medical Centre eyes kidney transplants in two years’ time
Plans were long in the making for kidney transplant operations to be conducted at the Annandale,
Nurse Olive Sinclair
East Coast Demerara, Doobay Medical Centre. It is the hope of the management of the not-for-profit facility that the recently elected coalesced A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change Government will be supportive of this venture.
For the past few years the Centre has been catering to the dialysis needs of patients with renal failure. While dialysis will remain a lifelong permanent procedure for patients, a kidney transplant could allow for patients to have a dialysis-free life.
Currently the East Coast Demerara facility is undergoing expansion works which will accommodate a section for the proposed transplantation procedures.
According to Nurse in Charge of Dialysis, Olive Sinclair, one of the criteria for the transplant is that the kidneys must be donated. “There must be no financial arrangement between the patient and the donor; unless it is proven that it is donated only then will that procedure be done,” asserted Nurse Sinclair.
This mode of operation is needed to guard against the trafficking of organs which has been deemed a criminal offence. According to Nurse Sinclair, the Medical Centre will be working in close collaboration with medical experts of the McMaster University in Canada who have promised to render their support only if donated organs are being used.
“We are looking to have transplant operations probably in another two years or so,
Patients at the Doobay Medical Centre undergoing dialysis
once we get all of the necessary systems in place and approval,” intimated Nurse Sinclair.
But engaging such a project is not expected to be an easy task. According to the Head Nurse, “Leading up to transplants it will take a lot of work because there is a lot of screening (of patients) to be done, and there will also have to be a lot of post management to be done.”
And Nurse Sinclair insisted that the patient management after the transplant is particularly crucial. The actual procedures and follow up care will be offered by the Canadian experts.
Reflecting on the need for an expanded service to cater to renal patients, Nurse Sinclair said that it was about one year ago that this need was recognised.
With 20 dialysis machines the facility offered sessions to some 70 patients. Sessions, according to her, were slated for three times daily Monday through Friday. However it was quite a challenge to ensure this process is efficient. This is in light of the fact, that after each session the machines have to be cleaned and prepared, a process that takes at least 30 minutes, before another batch of patients can be attended to.
Additional machines have since been procured and sessions are also conducted on Saturdays. This latter move was imperative, Nurse Sinclair noted, as there have been an increase in the number of patients suffering from renal failure.
She linked this development to a few conditions, which if not treated, that can result in renal failure. “We have been getting more patients because the patients with diabetes and hypertension whose conditions are not properly controlled they could develop kidney failure,” explained Nurse Sinclair.
She also made reference to lupus as another condition that could result in renal failure. Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when a person’s immune system attacks the tissues and organs. And according to the Head Nurse at least three of her patients developed renal failure as a result of this condition.
Nurse Sinclair has made it clear too, that renal failure is not an affliction of a specific age group. This is evident by the fact that the ages of patients attending weekly sessions at the Medical Centre range from 16 to 74.
Although some patients have claimed that they are weakened by their condition, Nurse Sinclair disclosed that at least five of her patients have employment that allow them to work for at least eight-hour per day. This therefore means that they undergo dialysis before or after their working hours. Currently dialysis is offered at 06:00 hours, 11:00 hours and 15:00 hours.
But while dialysis is a proven procedure that helps to prolong the life of a renal failure patient by more than 15 years, a successful transplant could add even more years and an improved quality of life, Nurse Sinclair has observed.
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