DIALYSIS CENTRE TO OPEN IN DARLINGTON

A new, state-of-the-art renal centre is to open in Russell Street Retail Park, Darlington.

Diaverum will open at unit 3 after agreeing an eight-year lease with national commercial property and investment company LCP, which owns and manages the 7,908 sq ft unit.

The opening will see all staff and patients at the Darlington Dialysis Unit, based at Darlington Memorial Hospital and operated by Diaverum, transferred to the new site, which will have several state-of-the-art stations.

A spokesman for Diaverum said: “Russell Street is ideally located for the dialysis unit because it’s central, accessible and convenient for patients to commute to.”

Fit out is under way and the centre, which is located just off St Cuthbert’s Way ring road, is due to open on November 21.

Darlington Dialysis Centre opened in 1994 as a nurse-led satellite facility, and became a Diaverum clinic in 2011, in partnership with South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It provides renal care to NHS patients in the local area as well as to patients holidaying in the area.

All dialysis stations will be equipped with individual TV screens and patients are also provided free WiFi.

Rakesh Joshi, Lettings Director at LCP and Asset Manager of Russell Street Retail Park, said: “We’re pleased to welcome Diaverum to Russell Street, where it will operate a vital healthcare facility for local patients in a convenient and safe location.”

 Russell Street Retail Park comprises three units with a total of 24,840 sq ft, with other occupiers being Halfords and the British Heart Foundation. There is also a 135-space car park.