Satellite units offer patients dialysis treatment closer to home
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Services for renal patients are being stretched to capacity in Cornwall with a rise in kidney illness.
Many of the 180 people currently receiving regular dialysis in the county are aged in their 80s and 90s.
The increase in patient numbers means more people are being seen at "satellite units" at smaller hospitals across the county.
Medical staff at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro have warned renal services will need to be expanded.
Dr Paul Johnstone, a consultant nephrologist, said: "We'll need to extend the facilities at Truro on two levels.
"The first is to increase the capacity at the Royal Cornwall site, and there are plans afoot to do that.
"Also satellite units, as well as providing dialysis closer to home, offer a slightly less stressful environment and we may in fact have to look to a satellite unit for mid Cornwall beyond the Royal Cornwall site."
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