PATIENTS suffering from chronic kidney failure will soon be receiving vital treatment in Worcester.

City councillors have granted permission for a new unit at the Great Western Business Park on Tolladine Road, providing a total of 16 stations for renal haemodialysis, with the scope to increase to 20 stations in the future.

It will transform the lives of patients in and around the city who currently have to travel to Birmingham, Hereford or Kidderminster to receive dialysis.

The new facility, which will open in April, will have the capacity to treat about 60 patients. Treatment takes up to four hours per visit.

Figures from two years ago show there were 182 dialysis patients in Worcestershire – and one of these was Mandy Holton of Coventry Avenue, St John’s.

She had to travel three times a week to Kidderminster after her donor kidney started to fail three-and-a-half years ago.

As exclusively revealed in your Worcester News this month, she now has a new kidney after her husband Clive donated one of his own.

Mrs Holton welcomed the news, and said it would be a great relief for others having to go through it.

“I just think this will be wonderful for the people of Worcester,” she said. “It can be a long way to go, especially when you have to go so many times.”

Dr Stephen Spencer, consultant physician and lead clinician for renal services at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said:“There will be additional floor space to allow the running of some dialysis related clinics and also provide office space for lead renal nursing staff. The unit will also have its own dedicated parking. It is felt that receiving regular treatments at a unit and not at a hospital site will be better for patient morale.”

Dr Spencer added he believed it would make an “enormous contribution” to their ability to expand access to dialysis treatment across the county, relieving the pressure on other units.

In a letter written to the council by Dr Graham Lipkin, clinical director of Kidney services at University Hospital Birmingham, he said the centre in Worcester was “urgently” needed.

Around 20 jobs will be created by the new service, which will be run by the Fresenius Medical Care Renal Services Limited in partnership with the University Hospital Birmingham, and funded by Worcestershire Primary Care Trust.

Planning permission was needed as the site as it was earmarked for business use, but councillors unanimously agreed the application.

It is not known how much the service will cost.