The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has asked hospitals across Mumbai to refer patients to 10 public-private partnership dialysis centres, where treatment rates range from Rs 250 to Rs 540 and 40% of total slots are reserved for patients referred by the civic body.
The BMC public health department said the centres were established at different locations by private institutions through the civic administration’s PPP model. Its communication to hospitals asks them to use these facilities when patients require dialysis, expanding access beyond the dialysis units available at civic hospitals.
According to the department, chronic kidney disease has become an increasing public health concern across India. It noted that people with diabetes and hypertension face a higher probability of developing the disease, while the number of patients seeking dialysis for end-stage renal disease has also risen.
The subsidised rates at the 10 centres range from Rs 250 at the lower end to Rs 540 at the higher end. The BMC said 40% of patients receiving dialysis at these facilities would be reserved for referrals from its hospitals and services. The communication did not provide the names or locations of all 10 centres in the information available.
The demand is also putting pressure on dialysis capacity at civic hospitals. Data from a few years ago showed that BMC hospitals together performed more than 30,000 dialysis sessions annually. KEM Hospital alone conducted 11,249 dialysis sessions last year, according to the report.
A nephrologist at KEM Hospital said the facility had 15 dialysis stations, along with additional capacity in its intensive care unit, and was operating almost continuously in full shifts. The doctor said many admitted patients required dialysis and that Maharashtra had a large number of people with end-stage renal disease who could not survive without treatment that replaces renal function.
For these patients, the available options are dialysis or a kidney transplant. The nephrologist said dialysis was the more immediate option for most patients, who often reached hospitals either when treatment was beginning or after complications had developed. The doctor added that patients generally preferred centres located close to their homes.
The BMC’s referral instruction places the PPP centres within the city’s wider dialysis network while retaining a reserved share of capacity for patients directed by civic hospitals. The immediate next step is for hospitals to refer eligible patients to the participating centres as and when dialysis services are required.
