asked the Minister for Health when it is planned to provide a kidney unit in Limerick.
Written Answers. - Limerick Kidney Unit.
307.
I take it that the Deputy's question relates to the provision of a kidney dialysis unit in Limerick. It would, in the first instance, be a matter for the Mid-Western Health Board and I have received no proposal from the board.
A hospital-based renal maintenance dialysis unit needs specialised staffing including a nephrologist, junior medical staff trained in the techniques of dialysis and in the complications that can arise, specially trained nursing staff and a technician to service the dialysis machines and is therefore extremely costly to run. For these reasons dialysis units are provided only in a small number of the larger hospitals in Dublin, Cork and Galway where optimum use can be made of facilities and staff expertise.