KIDNEY patients who need regular dialysis will soon be able to take advantage of a sophisticated unit closer to home.

The £2m centre will be a satellite of Teesside's main renal unit, at The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.

Patients Claire Ogle and Les Smith have been invited to lay the foundation stone of the building, at the North Ormesby Health Village, in Middlesbrough.

It will be the third satellite unit of the hospital, the first two being in Darlington and on the grounds of The University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton.

Mr Smith, from Middlesbrough, has been receiving treatment for more than two years and Ms Ogle, from North Ormesby, has been receiving treatment for ten years, and has had a working transplant for the past four years.

The two travel to James Cook three times a week for four-hour sessions of dialysis.

Dr Andrew Paterson, clinical director of the hospital's renal unit, said: "The continuous rise in demand for long-term dialysis puts strain on the unit at the hospital, so every few years we need to look at ways of increasing the available accommodation for providing treatment.

"In the past, we have opened units in Darlington and Stockton, which have worked well, as they brought the service closer to home for patients from those areas.

"This time, the majority of patients will come from Middlesbrough itself, or east Cleveland, and we hope that the new unit will also provide a much more relaxing environment."

Currently, 116 patients are receiving treatment at the Middlesbrough hospital, more than 80 patients attend Darlington and more than 70 visit the Stockton dialysis centre.

It is expected that the North Ormesby centre will treat ten patients a week in the first year, building up to 45 patients by 2010.

Due for completion in October, the centre is a private finance initiative scheme, with the service being contracted out by South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust to Fresenius Medical Care Renal Services UK.

The accommodation will contain 16 dialysis stations, including an isolation area, and there will also be consulting and clinical facilities and a staff seminar room.