Torres and Cape residents who are awaiting or have undergone life-saving kidney transplants will now be able to access services much closer to home.
Following the opening of the Kidney Transplant Service in Townsville earlier this year, Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service has launched its own service to support residents who are preparing for a transplant or recovering from the procedure.
Two part-time transplant nurses – who are already based in Cooktown and Thursday Island renal units – will support the new service, along with a dedicated part-time pharmacist.
Torres Strait, Cape York and Northern Peninsula Area residents who required a kidney transplant previously had to travel to Brisbane for the procedure prior to the launch of the Townsville service in July.
TCHHS Executive Director Medical Services Dr Marlow Coates said the new TCHHS service will deliver important care closer to home.
“This new service in Townsville is so important for our First Nations communities who are disproportionately affected by kidney disease,” he said.
“Having a service closer to home is going to significantly reduce the financial and emotional burden for patients and their families.”
“We are also enhancing the service we deliver our own patients with our dedicated nurses and a pharmacist within TCHHS to support these patients to ensure that continuity of culturally safe and appropriate care.
“Awaiting a kidney transplant can be incredibly challenging and the new TCHHS service will further improve the care we are already delivering to those patients in our communities.”
Thursday Island kidney transplant recipient Aunty Rosie Sambo had to travel to Brisbane in 2023 for her transplant after spending eight years on dialysis.
She said it had been an overwhelming process due to the quick timing needed for a patient to attend the hospital for the operation when an organ becomes available.
“Family want to be there to support you, but Brisbane is a long way for them,” she said.
“I also think that long travel can make some people worry and that worry could make someone sicker maybe.”
The new Townsville service is expected to perform around 30 transplants in the first year for patients in the North Queensland region, including the Torres Strait, Cape York and NPA.