‘Virtual clinics’ a success story for BOP renal service
October 2017
Courtesy NZNO Kai Tiaki Magazine
Virtual renal clinics in the Bay of Plenty have brought patients better access to consultants, and an expanded upskilled role for rural renal nurses.
The Bay of Plenty (BOP) District Health Board (DHB) caters to the health needs of the North Island’s second fastest growing population – currently around 226,530 people.
This population has a higher percentage than the national average of people aged over 50, with 19 percent over the age of 65. Also, 25 per cent of the population identify as Mâori. At least 12 percent of the country’s population live with chronic renal (kidney) disease, with indigenous populations over-represented. Diabetes is a leading cause of kidney failure, and the Virtual Diabetes Register suggests about 12,000 people live with diabetes in the BOP. With an ever-increasing proportion of older people in this region, the number of people with kidney disease is expected to increase.
The BOP renal service caters for more than 300 patients, including about 130 undergoing renal replacement therapy. The BOP service comes under the Midlands Regional Renal Service, which uses a “hub and spoke” model of service delivery. The “hub”, at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, provides renal support to isolated outreach areas (the “spokes”) in the western and eastern BOP – at the satellite dialysis units at Tauranga and Whakatane Hospitals.