DORCHESTER'S flagship hospital is set to become a centre of excellence for kidney patients.

Executives at Dorset County Hospital have unveiled plans to more than double the number of renal patients that can be treated at a time.

Under the proposals, which would meet a growing demand for the service, a new extension would be built on the south wing of the hospital next to the existing renal unit.

The extension would see the number of inpatient beds increase from 10 to 54 and the number of dialysis stations rise from 11 to 24.

Nick Cox, chief executive of West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust, said the Dorset Renal Service, which also has a unit at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, opened in April 1996 taking on patients previously cared for by the Portsmouth renal unit.

He said: "Over the past nine years the service has grown rapidly - and the facilities have been operating at full capacity for the last three years, supporting a current total of 200 dialysis patients per year.

"Demand on the service is rising and will continue to do so in the future, reflecting the need to cater for an increasingly elderly population and a higher proportion of patients with diabetes - a complication of which is chronic renal failure."

He said the proposals for expansion of the renal service at Dorset County Hospital were part of early plans for the development of renal services across Dorset and South Somerset including an up to fourfold expansion in inpatient beds, and an increase in dialysis stations.

"This level of expansion cannot be accommodated within the existing hospital. It is therefore proposed, subject to agreement on funding, to build a two-storey, plus basement, extension to the South Wing, adjacent to the current renal dialysis unit," said Mr Cox.

"These proposals are our vision of the service we would like to be able to provide for our renal patients and form part of our overall service development strategy.

"The plans are still in their early stages and we are working closely with the strategic health authority and primary care trust to try to move these proposals forward."