A HOUSEWIFE is urging a health authority to re-think its strategy over a kidney dialysis centre for Banbury.

Miranda Berry, 50, fears if Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust stick to its guns over the number of patients needed for a satellite unit it could be years before a centre opened in North Oxfordshire.

She has sent a 500-signature petition to the boss of the Churchill Hospital’s renal centre Anna Bjorkstrand urging the trust reconsider its stance. And she has the backing of national charity UK National Kidney Federation, which successfully campaigned for small dialysis units — similar to home dialysis — to be set up in cottage hospitals or doctor’s surgeries.

The ORH say it needs at least 24 patients to make a satellite unit viable, but Mrs Berry reckons the trust should consider a smaller centre to cater for the patients it looks after.

The mother-of-three has been actively seeking support from local GPs surgeries to house a small unit in a town surgery, and has a meeting with one at the end of the month.

Mrs Berry has been pressing the ORH since last summer for a North Oxfordshire dialysis unit after concerns about husband Steven’s health.

Mr Berry, 52, travels 150 miles a week to the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, for dialysis three times a week.

She said: “Trying to reach a particular figure is just ridiculous. It’s like trying to catch the wind, the number of patients go up and down all the time.”

The couple say if there were four dialysis machines at Banbury Health Centre, running Monday to Saturday, it could cater for 16 patients.

Mrs Berry reckons set-up costs for a small unit would be similar to setting up patients with home dialysis.

Currently the trust pay for any building alterations, a reclining chair, personal dialysis machine, electricity and equipment.

Mrs Berry said: “We have got to do everything we can to make dialysis patients’ life easier. Steven’s got to spend the rest of his life on a machine and I’m determined to make his life easier.”

Bob Dunn, of the UK National Kidney Federation, said: “There’s no reason why not to put a dialysis unit into a local health centre if the health centre had space and was willing to train staff to give support.”

A spokesman said there were 12 patients in North Oxfordshire and any unit would only be used by them and not people from neighbouring counties.

She said: “The trust hopes to go ahead with the unit when there are a minimum of 24 patients who would be suitable to use the unit.

“However, currently there are not enough patients to support a unit in Banbury.”

l Steven Berry has been on dialysis for 15 years. On dialysis days Mr Berry is up by 4.45am to get ready for hospital transport, which picks him up by 6am. He has four hours’ dialysis and usually gets home between 2pm and 2.30pm having travelled a 50-mile round trip.