More Warwick residents now receive health care closer to home thanks to improvements at the Warwick Hospital.
Darling Downs Health Board chair Mike Horan said during a visit to the hospital last week (28 March) that it was due to Warwick Hospital staff advocating for their patients that improvements to renal dialysis offerings at the hospital had been prioritised.
He said staff had been working hard to ensure appropriate clinical care could be safely delivered locally, because previously dialysis patients had needed to travel to Toowoomba for regular treatment.
“Rural hospitals are often the lifeblood of local communities like Warwick,” he said.
“Now more than ever, people want to be able to access safe health care close to home.
“The Board is focussed on supporting staff to ensure they can provide the very best care for their communities.”
Renal dialysis services started in Warwick in September 2021 with two patients. The service now provides care to six patients.
Nurse Unit Manager Robyn Cameron said ambulatory services – where patients could walk in, receive their care and walk out again – were important for giving residents of the district the best care and treatment in the best place – close to home.
“Ambulatory services include our dialysis service,” she said.
“This service has really given patients and their families a big chunk of their lives back. Some patients need dialysis three times a week, so being able to get that treatment and service in their home town is significant.”
A telechemotherapy service is another ambulatory service that is in a growth stage, supporting patients to receive low-dose chemotherapy in Warwick rather than having to travel to Toowoomba.
As well as the expansion in services, new equipment to support clinical services has been installed, including a new analyser in the Warwick pathology laboratory which will decrease processing times and increase the number of tests able to be performed locally.
The Darling Downs Health Board met in Warwick as part of its regular schedule to convene in rural hospital settings.
