Very soon the big red bus that’s been parked at Moorabbin Hospital will head back out on the road to help dialysis dependent patients take holidays.
In the meantime, it’s been a very important service in recent months helping us deliver excellence in care to for dialysis dependent people with kidney failure in our region.
The Big Red Kidney Bus (BRKB), which has been expertly fitted out as a mobile dialysis service, has enabled a holiday program in Victoria to become well established and greatly enjoyed by hundreds of Australians with kidney failure. The bus was launched by Kidney Health Australia and Monash Health in 2015 and its operations are overseen by Lib Taylor, our Monash Health BRKB Coordinator.
While the BRKB normally takes a well-earned rest over the festive season, early this year it has been providing a temporary service at Moorabbin Hospital to support a growing community need for dialysis in our region. Manager Jane Crossett and her newly recruited BKRB team have been providing dialysis services for Monash Health patients on the BRKB, which has found a temporary home on the lawn outside the Moorabbin dialysis unit.
“The BRKB gives us three extra dialysis chairs so we can look after additional patients for their treatment three days a week and we’ve been running six days a week to accommodate maximum patient care,” Jane said.
“We’ve got an ever-growing population of patients in need of dialysis, so our services are quite in demand, and the BRKB has enabled us to increase our capacity.”
“In holiday mode, the BRKB can be found for about a month at a time in selected caravan parks around Victoria so that people in need of regular haemodialysis treatments are still able to receive treatment while enjoying much needed holidays with family and friends,” Jane said.
“The BRKB became a holiday concept after a group of patients wanted to go fishing at Lakes Entrance but were restricted by dialysis. With great collaboration between Kidney Health Australia and Monash Health, the concept became a reality and is now a free of charge service for dialysis dependent patients nationally with holiday spots planned throughout Victoria and the concept has expanded into New South Wales.”
Dialysis is a life-saving treatment for patients with end-stage kidney disease that removes waste products and excess fluids when the kidneys stop working properly.
Dialysis patient Emilio Ruiz was one of the first patients on the Big Red Kidney Bus on the day it launched at Moorabbin Hospital.
“I really like getting my dialysis treatments on the bus because it’s very quiet and there aren’t too many people,” he said.
“I’m very happy there and the nurses treat me very well and always keep an eye on me.”
It also happened to be Emilio’s birthday, and the nurses made sure to sing him Happy Birthday while he received his treatment.
“I was quite excited but also very surprised. It was really nice of them,” he said.
Jane said Emilio wasn’t the only patient who was raving about the BRKB.
“Some said they’ll consider a future holiday now as they’ve seen what the service looks like inside the bus, and they are also happy to be able to help support their fellow dialysis patients by coming on the bus and increasing capacity inside the unit itself,” she said.
The temporary initiative has been very successful thanks to the flexibility and camaraderie of our wider Monash Nephrology team, with dialysis bank nurses from other Monash Health sites volunteering to help staff the bus.
“Our Moorabbin nurses are supporting this service but it’s been amazing to see so many new nurses jump at the chance to work on our BRKB, which is something a little bit different,” Jane said.
“It’s really become a nice little close-knit community and patient service.”
Having said that, it will be wonderful to see the BRKB return to its primary purpose of holidays for dialysis dependent patients next week.
Approved by Anjali Dhulia