A South Australian Labor MLC who was diagnosed with kidney cancer last year is calling on her own government to provide more dialysis places in regional areas.
Irene Pnevmatikos has also suggested the state government should fund a Big Red Kidney Bus similar to those in New South Wales and Victoria, which are driven around those states to provide dialysis services at holiday destinations.
The Member of the Legislative Council was diagnosed with kidney cancer last year and has to have dialysis three times a week after a kidney was removed.
Ms Pnevmatikos has since been pushing her own government to do more for people with renal dysfunction, and said a lack of dialysis beds in regional areas was a key issue because they could fill up quickly.
"It's a priority, as far as I'm concerned," she said.
"I appreciate there are competing priorities in terms of health, so it's not that simple, but I just want to reach out to the general community so that there is an understanding and appreciation of the difficulties people with renal dysfunction face in our communities."
Dialysis is a way to clean the blood of people who have kidney problems. Missing a dialysis session can result in death within a week.
Ms Pnevmatikos said the number of South Australians needing dialysis had doubled over the past 20 years to about 14,000 but the number of beds they could use had not kept up.
The number of dialysis beds in regional cities and towns is determined by the centre's population, rather than how many people want to visit the location.
There are six beds in Mount Gambier, South Australia's second largest city.
Buses to help people holiday
Adelaide man Bob Veitch, 71, managed to get a dialysis place when he visited Mount Gambier last month.
He said a kidney bus would improve a lot of people's lives because holidays were important for their morale.
"It makes a difference for myself and also for the partner, so your wife can go out with you — or the husband," Mr Veitch said.
"At least you're going somewhere different for a change and it just brightens your life up.
"You can sit home and go on dialysis every second day and you get in a bit of a routine like that, but it's better to go away and get the sunshine and do what you like.
"It's a lot better."
Mr Veitch visited Port Lincoln a few years ago but almost had to cancel his trip because of a lack of dialysis places.
He also visited Berri on one occasion but could only stay for a day.
Mr Veitch said he had given up on trying to travel to Kangaroo Island.
A bus stop in Adelaide
As well as travelling to regional areas, Mr Veitch said a kidney bus could visit Adelaide to help regional people visiting the capital city.
"They could stop at the West Beach caravan park. All the country people could come down and they could stop there … and the patients' parents or partners could do stuff with the kids and all that sort of stuff," he said.
"It just gives you a holiday break from home and normal routine."
Ms Pnevmatikos said it could be good for the tourism industry, especially in periods when people wanted to travel regionally, like Easter.
"People want to travel in the state — both ways — coming into Adelaide and going out of Adelaide," she said.
"You can't take away the dialysis chairs the people in the country have — they're so few anyway — so it's an issue that needs to be addressed."
A spokeswoman for SA Health did not address Ms Pnevmatikos's calls for more dialysis beds but said the government understood " the lack of ability to freely travel is one of the critical limitations on people who receive dialysis, and one highly prioritised by patients".
"SA Health offers dialysis treatment for patients who are travelling when there is capacity, however, spaces are limited as dialysis treatment is prioritised for residents," she said.
A mobile dialysis unit for remote Aboriginal communities was placed in holiday destinations when available, using funding from donations.
