February 26th 2018: Tallaght Hospital is hosting a talk on the topic of kidney health on Tuesday 6th March in An Cosán, Kiltalown Village Centre, Jobstown, Tallaght at 11.30am.
The free event is part of an initiative that Tallaght Hospital began last year in partnership with the Patient Community Advisory Council (PCAC) and will be the first of many regular public events featuring medical, nursing and allied health professionals discussing topical and common health issues in 2018.
The talk scheduled for March 6th will mark World Kidney Day with a discussion on the topic of Kidneys, particularly kidney health for women and why it is important. Dr. Peter Lavin, Consultant Nephrologist and Oonagh Smith, Renal Dietician from the renal team at Tallaght Hospital will discuss the significance of family and personal history, how to recognise signs and symptoms, the importance of regular kidney function tests and how staying active and controlling blood sugar levels can improve outcomes.
Speaking about the upcoming event, Dr. Peter Lavin, Consultant Nephrologist at Tallaght Hospital said; “World Kidney Day is all about raising awareness of the importance kidneys play in everyone’s health. These two organs play a vital part in the body, removing waste and excess fluid, controlling blood pressure, making red blood cells and keeping bones healthy. Kidney disease can affect people of all ages, and often at the early stages there can be no obvious warning signs. This public talk is a marvellous opportunity to explain how the kidneys function and provide advice on how to keep your kidneys healthy and what to watch out for.”
Catherine Heaney, Chairperson of the PCAC and Fettercairn Community Health Project Co-Ordinator said, “The feedback from the series of talks we launched last year was hugely positive and working with the Hospital we hope to grow the number of events in 2018 to respond to the demand from the community. The Hospital is now the second largest centre for dialysis in the country so they are quite the experts on kidney health, this talk is a marvellous opportunity to hear from a doctor and dietitian about what we can do as individuals to mind our kidneys and recognise the signs that all might not be well. The health needs of our community are constantly evolving as we grow and age. By working together we are increasing awareness about diseases directly affecting our population, I hope the women of Tallaght can join us at this event.”
Between eight and 10% of the Irish population have chronic kidney disease. Early onset of the disease can have no warning signs and patients can lose most of their kidney function before experiencing symptoms. Kidney disease is easily detected however, a simple urine test can detect certain proteins while blood tests can measure the level of creatinine in blood.
Signs of advancing chronic kidney disease include swollen ankles, fatigue, difficult concentrating, decreased appetite and foamy urine can indicate advancing chronic kidney disease.
ENDS
About Tallaght Hospital
Tallaght Hospital is one of Ireland’s largest acute teaching hospitals, providing child-health, adult, psychiatric and age-related healthcare on one site. The hospital has 495 adult beds and 67 paediatric bed with 2,600 people on staff. The Hospital is a provider of local, regional and national specialities. It is also a national urology centre, the second largest provider of dialysis services in the country and a regional orthopaedic trauma centre.
Tallaght Hospital is one of the two main teaching hospitals of Trinity College Dublin - specialising in the training and professional development of staff in areas such as nursing, health and social care professionals, emergency medicine and surgery, amongst many others. Tallaght University Hospital is part of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group which serves a population of over 1.2 million across seven counties.
A new satellite centre is to be built at Tallaght Hospital as part of the National Children’s Hospital project as a key element of an integrated clinical network for paediatric services nationally.
The Hospital’s Emergency Departments catered for 50,286 Adult Attendances and 32,886 Paediatric Attendances in 2017. A further 291,483 patients were treated through the Hospital’s adult and paediatric outpatient clinics in 2017. The Hospital’s operations are supported by 200 general practitioners in surrounding communities.
About the PCAC
Established in 2013 the Patient Community Advisory Council (PCAC) was set up with the support of the Executive Management Team of Tallaght University Hospital. The PCAC is dedicated to the improvement of quality in patient care at Tallaght University Hospital and help support the Hospital’s values. The group meets 10 times a year provides an opportunity for the Hospital to hear directly from patients, users of our services on their experience during their patient journey with the Hospital. Provide feedback on current systems and processes in the hospital and give their thoughts on new systems being introduced and generate new ideas to improve the standard of care.
The PCAC is composed of groups representing the Community along with staff of the Hospital the current membership include community members: Catherine Heaney (Chair), Fettercairn Community Health Project; Ciaran Young (Vice Chair), Community Member special interest in the patient experience; Nuala Dignam, Community Member special interest in the people with intellectual disabilities; Marie Price Bolger, Trustus; Fran Keyes, Tallaght Travellers, Primary Healthcare Programme; Jim Lawlor, South Dublin County Council Forum. Tallaght University Hospital Members: Carol Mullins (Patient Advocacy), Áine Lynch (Nursing), Amanda McCormack (Paediatrics) and Joanne Coffey (Communications).
