Renal Unit, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Preston, Lancashire, UK

About Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. The county was established in 1182 and takes its name from the town of Lancaster in the North of Lancashire. The Red Rose of Lancaster is the traditional symbol for the House of Lancaster, immortalized in the 15th century War of the Roses between the House of Lancaster (Red Rose) and the House of York (White Rose). Today, the administrative capital of Lancashire is Preston. People from the county are known as Lancastrians. The Duchy of Lancaster is an ancient institution that manages the inherited property of the monarch and originates in a grant of land made in 1265 to a Plantagenet prince. Lancashire is somewhat divided in two areas, the industrial and densely populated South and Central areas with Preston and Blackpool and the rural North. There is also a lot of beautiful countryside with the seaside, the Pennines and the Forrest of Bowland, an area of outstanding national beauty. North of Lancashire, the Lake District offers magnificent countryside with fells and lakes; the Yorkshire dales are not far away either.

Pendle Hill in central Lancashire (©BBC and Clive Banks)	Haweswater from Harter Fell in the Lake District (©BBC and Roger Gorman)

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals

Lancashire teaching hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides healthcare for the major part of central Lancashire as well as specialist services for all of Lancashire and South Cumbria. It operates two hospitals in Chorley and Preston and was awarded Foundation hospital status in 2005, providing greater freedom from central Government control.

Royal Preston Hospital

Renal Unit
The Directorate of Renal Medicine provides a comprehensive regional service for renal medicine for a catchment population of approximately 1.5 million.  The Royal Preston Hospital has been designated as a renal hub for Lancashire and Morecambe Bay.  The Directorate comprises a renal unit containing 26 haemodialysis stations and 2 infectious disease isolation stations and a dedicated Nephrology Ward of 27 beds at the Royal Preston Hospital site.  There is a separate CAPD and home haemodialysis training facility at the Chorley and South Ribble Hospital unit and a CAPD training facility in Barrow-in-Furness. The Directorate supports five satellite haemodialysis units – Accrington, Blackpool, Chorley, Kendal and Burnley. The Kendal unit is being expanded this year.  There are satellite out-patient clinics in Accrington, Barrow, Blackburn, Burnley, Blackpool, Chorley, Lancaster and Kendal.

Lancashire on a UK map and Renal services offered by the unit (green – hemodialysis unit, red peritoneal dialysis unit, yellow – out-patient clinic)