A BRAND new £1.7m kidney dialysis unit is soon to be built in Cinderford and patients should be able to use it by the autumn.

The Satellite Dialysis Unit will be located at Newtown Road, Forest Vale Industrial Estate, Steam Mills.

The first turf was cut to start work last week, with Forest of Dean District Council leader and cabinet member for regeneration, Cllr Patrick Molyneux and non executive director Richard Busby from NHS Gloucestershire performing the honours.

Cllr Molyneux and Mr Busby were joined at the ceremony by Dr Jim Moriarty, chief of outreach dialysis at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Forest GP Dr Martin Gibbs and local community partners.

Jan Stubbings, chief executive of NHS Gloucestershire, said: "This ceremony marks an exciting project that will increase the range of healthcare services in Gloucestershire provided close to people's homes.

"NHS Gloucestershire has sought extensive feedback from existing dialysis patients. They told us that travelling to and from dialysis sessions has a significant impact on their lives. After careful consideration of the county's road infrastructure, geography and the location of existing services, Cinderford was identified as the optimum location to benefit the greatest number of patients."

Dr Moriarty said: "This 12-station dialysis unit will provide much-needed additional haemo­dialysis capacity across Gloucestershire. It will support up to 48 patients on dialysis, which will enable us to meet the anticipated future growth in demand.

"Specialist consultant input will be provided by the visiting Renal Consultant Team from Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust."

Dr Gibbs said: "Today marks the start of a really exciting development for Gloucestershire. Providing high quality support locally in a modern, state-of-the-art facility will really benefit dialysis patients."

This is the first investment to be made within Cinderford's Area Action Plan (AAP) and follows many months of partnership working between the Cinderford Regeneration Board, the Forest of Dean District Council and NHS Gloucestershire.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's capital investment in the new dialysis unit will be between £1.6-1.7m.