7:54am Monday 15th June 2009
By Mark Stead
TELLY addicts in York whose health means hospital has become a second home have been given a boost to their daily viewing habits – thanks to a donor’s generosity.
York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s renal dialysis unit has been equipped with an array of state-of-the-art televisions which will help patients who have suffered kidney failure stave off boredom during their courses of treatment.
The 13 flat-screen sets, which all come with Freeview and crystal-clear picture and sound quality, will give those receiving care on the unit at the Wigginton Road site a new range of channels to choose from as they look to fill their days.
They have replaced old-style TV sets which could only pick up five channels, with their delivery being made possible thanks to the York Kidney Patient’s Association (YKPA).
The charity, which was founded and is run by patients who have ties to the unit, received the funding for the televisions and cabling through a £10,000 donation from Sandra Webster, who was bequeathed money from a friend who had been on dialysis and wanted to do something to help others receiving the same treatment.
YKPA aims to support kidney patients and improve their quality of life by providing non-medical equipment to York Hospital, as well as raising funds and organising social events for its members, and health bosses say the new televisions will provide a welcome relief from the tedium of dialysis treatment.
“Patients with kidney failure which has progressed to requiring dialysis visit the unit three days a week, 52 weeks of the year,” said Carole Gover, deputy sister on the unit.
“The dialysis sessions itself takes four hours.
“During that time, patients are limited as to what they can do, so being able to watch television, read or work on a laptop can be a real saving grace.”
The arrival of the new televisions is part of a mission by the staff who work on the unit to improve its environment and provide more activities to those who spend much of their lives there.
They are hoping to be able to equip it with broadband access in the near future, and currently also provide physiotherapy sessions at patients’ bedsides, complete with mapped-out exercise plans, weights and an exercise bike which can be attached to their beds. The unit marked its tenth anniversary in April, with former patients and their families being invited to celebrate the milestone. It treats people from York, Selby, Malton, Pickering and Harrogate, as well as the surrounding areas, and also offers peritoneal dialysis, which can be carried out at home.
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