Our first patients received dialysis in May 1989 after Dr Roger Greenwood introduced renal services at the Lister hospital in December 1988. Our Renal Research Institute has been open since 2014, named posthumously after patient Lee Haynes, whose family was instrumental in the fundraising effort required to develop the facility.
Our renal service is recognised as a specialist referral centre for renal medicine serving most of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and parts of Essex.
ENHT Patient Referral Portal
If you have been asked to access the Patient Referral Portal, you can do so by following this link.
For urgent referrals please contact the renal SpR via the Lister Hospital Switchboard (01438 314333).
Transport notice
We understand that having treatment for kidney disease can take a lot of time for our patients which is why we endeavour to make patient experience the best we possibly can and the reason we expanded our services to our satellite units across the area so that our services are more accessible for patients, especially those having weekly dialysis treatment.
Every patient that needs in-centre haemodialysis is eligible for NHS-funded transport services for their regular treatments. This is arranged by the dialysis unit on the patient’s behalf.
There are further details about eligibility criteria on this NHS information sheet.
For patients using this service we recommend being ready two hours before the dialysis appointment. Please be aware that due to unforeseen circumstances, there are sometimes delays with transport to and from treatment and patients are not able to travel with a friend or relative unless it’s medically necessary or if the patient is under 16 years of age.
If at all possible we encourage patient’s family members and friends to help with transport as this hopefully makes treatment less tiring, less frustrating, and definitely shortens the time patients are out of their homes which promotes better recovery in between treatment sessions. For non-emergency transport needs, patients who are mobile and independent are advised to make their own way to their appointment by private or public transport.
Typical dialysis schedule
We have five dialysis units and patients are allocated to units according to where they live to try to minimise travel time from their home. Haemodialysis patients have treatment 3 times a week and we offer two treatment schedules; Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday. There are three possible timeslots that are allocated to our patients; morning, afternoon, and evening. Schedules are allocated subject to unit capacity. During the New Year and Christmas period, dialysis schedules may vary to allow patients and staff to celebrate the festive season.
Please see timeslots below:
| Unit | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
| Lister Hospital | 7:15am – 12pm | 12pm – 5pm | 5:30pm – 10:30pm |
| Bedford | 7:15am – 12pm | 12pm – 5pm | 5:30pm – 10:30pm |
| Chiltern Kidney Centre | 7:15am – 12pm | 1pm – 6pm | 6pm – 11:30pm |
| Harlow | 7:15am – 12pm | 12pm – 5pm | 5:30pm – 10:30pm |
| St Albans | 7:15am – 12pm | 12pm – 5pm | 5:30pm – 10:30pm |
Dialysis facilities are provided at:
Lister Hospital (our main unit, 26 stations)
St Albans City Hospital (16 stations)
Chiltern Kidney Centre, Dunstable (23 stations)
Bedford Dialysis Unit (16 stations)
Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow (12 stations)
Home therapy unit (Lister Hospital, Level 3)
To give our patients more choice we have a home therapy unit (peritoneal dialysis and home haemodialysis). Haemodialysis patients can also take part in the Shared Care programme, which encourages and enables patients to participate in their dialysis.
Telephone: 01438 284100
Email: [email protected]
Home therapy team
Home haemodialysis senior sister: Natalia Storey
Peritoneal dialysis senior sister: Tracey Bellwood
Matron: Betty Sunil
Nephrology consultants:
Enric Vilar
Sivakumar Sridharan
Telephone: 01438 284100
Email: [email protected]
Renal wards and acute dialysis unit (Lister Hospital)
Ward 6B is our main inpatient nephrology (kidney/renal) ward with 25 beds, situated on level 6 in the hospital’s main block. We also have some beds on the opposite ward, 6A. Our patients are cared for by a dedicated team of doctors, nurses, clinical support workers and other allied health care professionals. Within Ward 6B, we can undertake dialysis in the 4 bayed dedicated acute haemodialysis unit.
Renal ward and acute dialysis team
Ward 6B manager: Anne Barairo
Telephone: 01438 285063 or 01438 285064
Ward 6A manager: Rommel De Peralta
Telephone: 01438 285061 or 01438 285062
Acute dialysis senior sister: Lucy Skinner
Telephone: 01438 284174
Ward matron: Jocelyn Berdeprado
Acute dialysis matron: Betty Sunil
Renal Interventions Treatment Area (RITA)
Patients who do not need to be admitted to a ward for certain tests/procedures or intravenous medications can be treated here. This is a day unit at Lister Hospital on the concourse of Ward 6B. Day patients are cared for by a team of nurses and clinical support workers.
RITA Team
Telephone: 01438 284775
Email: [email protected]
Sister: Shiny Abraham
Matron: Betty Sunil
We also provide a range of other services including:
Pharmacy team
Medicines are very important in the treatment of most kidney diseases. The pharmacy team work with doctors, nurses, and patients to make sure that patients receive the most appropriate medicines for them. As many renal patients take lots of medicines the pharmacy team ensure the doses are correct depending on how well the kidneys are working, check there are no interactions with different medicines and advise on side effects. As well as providing a pharmacy service to the ward, pharmacists also attend nephrology, post-transplant and Tolvaptan® clinics at the Lister site.
For patients who are prescribed medicines for their renal condition which GPs cannot prescribe, for example, immunosuppressants, Aranesp®, Eprex®, or Tolvaptan®, the team can prescribe these and arrange supplies including delivery in some cases. This includes patients who are seen at other sites.
Patients are welcome to contact the team with questions about their current medicines, to check any interactions with new medicines and also if they are interested in taking herbal supplements or are having problems obtaining medicines from their GP.
Clare Morlidge: Consultant renal pharmacist & President, UK Kidney Association
Charlotte Mallindine: Renal pharmacist
Telephone: 01438 284677
Email: [email protected]
Clinical nurse specialist teams
Renal access
Vascular access is a patient’s lifeline, so it is important to have good functioning access. An arterio venous fistula (AVF) is the gold standard in vascular access. Access must be ready for the start of dialysis and then looked after once on dialysis, to make sure it is functioning correctly. The access team support patients and arrange for them to have the right type of access for their kidney treatment.
The clinical nurse specialist in the team prioritise and arrange referrals to the vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists, coordinate access interventions and admissions for renal access surgery and coordinate and attend the renal access clinic. They also train and assist staff with tunnelled line insertions, coordinate the delivery of care to patients who have access problems and run a post op clinic where patients’ AVF are scanned to see whether the access is ready.
Contact details
Renal access clinical nurse specialist: Jeanette Cloran
Telephone: 01438 284624 or 07342 060118
Email: j[email protected]
Transplant team
Patients are prepared for kidney transplants by our renal transplant team who work closely with the transplant centres at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, London’s Royal Free and Hammersmith hospitals. Our patient information leaflets provide detailed information about kidney transplantation and the process for those patients waiting for a transplant. We also have a patient information leaflet about the process of living donation.
The Trust works with Clinical Computing UK Limited to process renal patient information. Further details about this are published on their website and Privacy Notice.
We may receive information from your GP or other care provider about offering a virtual renal appointment and / or direct care. When we do so, we will only process information that is necessary and not process your Personal Data for any further purposes. Our trusted Data Processor for this is The Phoenix Partnership (Leeds) Ltd. Further information is included in their Privacy Policy. We also receive your Personal Data for this purpose in accordance with the My Care Record Information Sharing Agreement and further information about this is included in their Privacy Statement.
