Patients left with little choice as need for dialysis grows

“I’ve got to do it. There’s nothing else I can do. I’ve got to do it to live,” said Barrie, whose transport fares are covered under his pension.

For the past seven years, the father and Cobram resident has made the journey three times a week.

“I’d rather not do it, but if I’ve got to do it, I’ve got to do it,” Barrie said.

And yet, he considers himself one of the lucky ones to get treatment even somewhat close to his home.

Patients turned away from local treatment

Confined to a hospital bed after a recent fall while getting out of a taxi following treatment, Barrie told The Courier that having dialysis in Cobram would make a big difference for people like him — and even more so for those patients from Shepparton, who, he said, were being referred to Melbourne because there was no availability at GV Health’s dialysis unit.

“It doesn’t only benefit Cobram,” Barrie said.

“It benefits Yarrawonga; it benefits Shepparton, because it frees up chairs there and means that people here don’t have to travel down to Melbourne.”

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease increases with age and affects about 44 per cent of Australians aged over 75.

GV Health confirmed there was a wait-list for a spot in its 15-chair dialysis unit.

Chief operating officer Donna Sherringham said it was not possible to provide a time frame for the wait-list because wait times were dependent on patient acuity.

“GV Health works to the allocated activity (i.e. the number of referrals and chairs available),” she said in a statement.

“We work with other health services that have dialysis units (for example Yarrawonga, Echuca) with the aim for patients to be dialysed as close to their home as possible if they choose to.”

Meanwhile, when Mary Johnson’s kidney function had declined to just 29 per cent, she knew she would need haemodialysis to survive.

Her end-stage kidney failure means that her remaining kidney is unable to filter out waste and excess fluids.

Alongside this, Mary has a low haemoglobin count and often experiences a deep weariness and brain fog that causes her to struggle to think.

“I can’t explain this kind of tired. It’s a bit like a band on your head,” she said.

“And you do have this fog, it’s weird. It’s uncomfortable.”

She first tried haemodialysis many years ago, when her kidney function had dropped to about 15 per cent.

While treatment often leaves many patients exhausted, Mary’s experience was different.

“Walking back to my accommodation, I had a spring in my step for the first time in so long,” Mary said.

“And I said, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe this, how good I feel.’”

Although she’s not sure when she’ll start her treatment, she knows she’ll have to travel out of Cobram when she does.

“I haven’t got to that worrying stage yet. But you just presume that it would’ve been either Yarrawonga or Shepparton or Echuca,” Mary said.

“At this stage, I think that’s the way I want to go.”

Yarrawonga Health did not respond to questions about a wait time to access haemodialysis in its unit.

Yarrawonga Health chief executive Robin Haberecht said the dialysis service at Yarrawonga, including its intake, was co-ordinated through the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

“All rural and regional public dialysis services are a satellite service of a specialist tertiary hospital,” Ms Haberecht said.

“Nationally and statewide the demand for dialysis support continues to increase. Yarrawonga Health is planning to increase dialysis in the future to meet the increasing demand of our local and broader community catchment population.”

Haemodialysis wait times

Further down the Murray River, Echuca Regional Health Nurse Unit manager Cancer and Wellness Centre Lyn Jeffreson confirmed there was a wait-list for its six dialysis chairs.

Similarly to GV Health, Ms Jeffreson said the length of the wait-list fluctuated according to need.

“People residing in Cobram are outside of the Echuca catchment and perhaps can look to be linked in closer to home by their respective regional healthcare services,” Ms Jeffreson said.

Only when a regular patient is away is Echuca Regional Health able to offer holiday dialysis.

Echuca Regional Health aims to service people in its catchment, such as those in the Campaspe and southern Murray shires, including Moama and surrounds.

Back in Cobram, NCN Health chief executive officer Mark Ashcroft said his organisation broadly supported the concept of a dialysis unit in the region.

“However, no funding has been committed to a dialysis unit at this stage,” he said.

“We continually engage with the community to better understand their healthcare needs, and we work closely with the Department of Health to plan the health services that we offer.

“Planning for new health services is complex and involves several factors, including population, community needs, clinical capability and capacity, proximity to other services and overall demand, and NCN Health continues to work with the Department of Health to ensure the communities’ needs are met.

“Our general practices in Cobram and Nathalia are continuing to provide vital support for renal patients, including acting as a critical early link to specialist care if required.”

Meanwhile, from his Shepparton hospital bed, Barrie Connor looked out the window of his room to a lead-beaten sky.

A soft rain began to fall.

“When you get off dialysis, you don’t want to be travelling,” he said.

“You just want to flop down in a chair somewhere and relax.”

He said he would like to see the government see for itself what kidney disease is like so that it can understand the need for dialysis in Cobram.

“Walk a mile in my shoes. See what it’s like,” he said.

“They wouldn’t like it. That’s for sure.”