King’s/Dartford Department of Renal Medicine
The renal services for the local residence are an integrated part of the renal services provided by the Renal Unit at King's College Hospital in central London.
There is a satellite Haemodialysis Unit owned, staffed and run by King' situated at the eastern end of the Darent Valley Hospital, just outside the main hospital building. An in-patient referral service and ITU support for acutely presenting renal failure and associated conditions is provided by the Consultant Nephrologists, backed up by the resident team at King’s College Hospital Renal Unit.
The resident team of consultants at Darent Valley run outpatient clinics on:
- Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings
- Wednesday afternoons
Patients with renal problems (including the need for acute haemodialysis) are managed on Redwood Ward.
- Low Clearance Clinics (to provide advanced kidney care for patients who may need dialysis treatment within six to twelve months) are held at King’s College Hospital on Monday (new patients only), Tuesday and Thursday.
- Haemodialysis clinics are held in each of the Centre Dialysis Unit at King’s College Hospital and the Satellite Dialysis Units at Bromley, Darent Valley, Dulwich, London Bridge and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich.
- Renal Anaemia Clinics, Peritoneal Dialysis Clinics and Conservative Management Clinics (for patients who have actively chosen in an informed manner not to go forward for dialysis treatment but have full care aimed at preserving quality of life as long as possible) are held both at King’s College and Darent Valley Hospitals.
The service runs an active programme of renal transplantation undertaken in conjunction with the renal transplant team at Guy’s Hospital involving live donor (including pre-emptive) kidney, cadaveric kidney and both single and simultaneous pancreatic transplants.
Initial workup is done by the King’s/ Dartford Team in conjunction with visiting transplant surgeons from Guy’s and surgery and immediate post-operative care is undertaken in the Renal and Transplant Unit at Guy’s Hospital.
Transplant clinics are undertaken in the Renal Outpatients at King’s College Hospital.