WORCESTERSHIRE'S first renal dialysis centre is to be set up in Kidderminster, ensuring that patients will no longer have to travel to Birmingham for treatment.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has been given £600,000 by regional health bosses and the cash will be used to develop a unit at Kidderminster General Hospital.

It is scheduled to go into operation by April next year.

The Trust says it will feature a dozen dialysis "stations" and will benefit up to 50 patients each year.

"At the moment, Worcestershire patients who need dialysis have to travel to Birmingham or further afield as often as three times a week," said Harold Musgrove, Trust chairman.

"This can take up to half a day at a time, but by being able to have dialysis in Kidderminster this will mean less disruption to their work or social commitments," he added.

The new unit will act as a "satellite" centre for renal departments at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley.

Dr Charles Ashton, medical director for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, called the Government's cash injection a "tremendous boost for renal failure patients in Worcestershire".

"It also represents a considerable investment in medical services in the county and is a concrete sign of further improvements to come," said Dr Ashton.

Healthy kidneys filter "end products" that are passed in urine.

They also produce hormones that are released into the bloodstream to regulate vital functions such as blood pressure and red blood cell production.

Renal dialysis is an artificial method of maintaining the blood's chemical balance when kidneys fail.