The Churchill Hospital has two Purite Elite reverse osmosis (RO) systems which both incorporate 100% redundancy and are providing the hospital with up to 3000 litres/hour of pure water
The Churchill Hospital, part of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, has invested in the latest water purification technology from Purite for the constant, high quality supply of pure water for its renal dialysis facilities.
As 99% of dialysate is pure water, the quality of the water supply used in haemodialysis has a direct and immediate impact on the health of patients.
The Churchill Hospital provides non-emergency specialist services in the Oxford area, including renal medicine and transplant services for patients with acute, chronic or end-stage renal disease.
Within the hospital, there is a main renal unit that caters for up to 25 patients at any one time, plus a dedicated transplant facility and a high dependency unit.
The hospital has two Purite Elite reverse osmosis (RO) systems which both incorporate 100% redundancy and are providing the hospital with up to 3000 litres/hour of pure water.
One of the RO systems provides pure water to 54 dialysis stations in the main renal, transplant and high dependency areas.
The second system is providing pure water to a dedicated ward for dialysis and is catering for up to 16 patients at any one time.
The Churchill Hospital is part of the Oxford Kidney Unit, which includes three co-provider renal units at Milton Keynes, Swindon and High Wycombe, and provides outpatient renal dialysis and support to home haemodialysis patients within the area.
All three co-provider units use Purite's Elite RO systems to provide pure water to the dialysis machines; each system is capable of supplying between 12 and 16 patients at any one time.
Furthermore, the Elite systems incorporate standby re-circulation during out of hours to conserve power and water, maintain bacterial quality and to ensure that the system is always ready for immediate operation.
The Churchill Hospital is also using the Purite Prestige Compact for home patient dialysis.
This single patient RO has been designed by Purite and is registered as a Medical Device, to Medical Devices Directive 93/42/EEC.
Home dialysis is a growing trend as patients undergoing the procedure typically have to dialyse three times a week, and are opting for home use which offers greater levels of flexibility and quality of life.
Andy Mosson, technical manager for the renal unit, explains "20 years ago approximately 130 patients were being dialysed at home in our region.
"Over the years, this has declined considerably, but is now on the increase.
"The Prestige Compact single patient reverse osmosis systems from Purite helps us to provide our patients with the best level of care and quality of life possible".
Purite water purification technology has been used at the Churchill Hospital since 1995, primarily because of the simplicity and ease of use of the equipment and also because of the level of service provided.
Andy Mosson explains, "Over the last ten years, Purite has provided us with an excellent level of support and service.
"A constant and reliable supply of pure water is critical to the health of our patients and Purite always responds quickly to our needs".
Purite designs, develops and manufactures water purification systems for use in applications in both the healthcare and research sectors and throughout industry.
The company specialises in a wide range of technologies, including ion exchange, carbon filtration, reverse osmosis, electro-deionisation and ultrafiltration.
Purite systems can be supplied as stand-alone units or as fully integrated with production capacities up to many thousands of litres per hour.
In every case, the company provides full installation, technical and service support.
