New haemodialysis centre launched at Safdarjung Hospital

Safdarjung Hospital on Wednesday inaugurated a dedicated haemodialysis unit, which will be the first central government facility in the national capital to be equipped with online hemodiafiltration (HDF) machines, considered a better technique of dialysis.

Dr Himanshu Verma, head of the department of nephrology, said that the new haemodialysis unit was running on pilot for the last few months to test the effectiveness of the machines and it was formally inaugurated on Wednesday. Dr Verma said that this new unit will ensure that an advanced dialysis technique—haemodiafiltration—is available to patients from economically weaker backgrounds free of cost.

“If you go to a private hospital, the average cost of this therapy is around 5,000-6,000 and here patients will be getting this service free of cost. HDF is a more advanced technique of filtration of impurities from the body, which not only improves a patient’s quality of life but also increases the life expectancy among patients,” Dr Verma said.

The process of HDF involves the removal of large fluid volumes from the patient, and this removed fluid is replaced by substitution fluid.

He explained that for these “new-age dialysis machines”, the hospital administration has ensured that the highest quality of water is used for dialysis.

“We have ensured that ultra-pure water is used in these machines by installing the highest quality RO plant. The better the quality of water, the output of the process will also be good,” Dr Verma said.

Dr BL Sherwal, medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital, said that the OPD (outpatient department) timings have also been increased to 8pm everyday so that maximum patients can benefit from the new facility.

“This is another step towards improving patient care in Safdarjung Hospital and we will constantly work towards ensuring that the best facilities are provided to the poorest patients,” Dr Sherwal said.