Working with your home unit
When you travel to the North Coast for dialysis, your home renal unit remains a central part of your care. Our role is to receive the right information before you arrive, confirm plans with your home team, and share session notes back after your visit.
Why we work through your home renal unit
Visitor haemodialysis is not arranged in isolation. Before any session is confirmed, our clinic works with your home renal unit so that the clinic doctor and your own renal team can review the information needed for your planned stay in Ballito. This helps us prepare for your arrival on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast and makes sure the booking is handled in an organised way.
Your home team knows your current treatment plan, recent dialysis history and the practical points that matter when care is provided away from home. Our clinic doctor reviews the information received and confirms what is needed for your visit. Treatment decisions are made by your home renal team together with the clinic doctor. If you have an emergency at any point before travel or while you are here, you should go to the nearest emergency unit.
What information is usually shared
The exact documents can differ from one patient to another, but there is a standard group of details that usually needs to come from your home unit before visitor sessions can be considered. Sending complete information early helps, especially in busy holiday periods when North Coast travel demand is high.
- A referral or booking request from your home renal unit
- Your planned travel dates and the dates you expect to need dialysis in Ballito
- A general treatment summary from your home team
- Recent blood results or other relevant clinical records if requested
- Current medication information where relevant to the handover
- Notes on access type and any practical points your home team wants our clinic to know
- Contact details for the relevant staff member at your home unit
Our clinic may also ask for additional records if the clinic doctor needs clarification before confirming your booking. We do not ask patients to decide clinical details themselves, your home team and the clinic doctor handle that together.
How the process works step by step
The handover process starts well before you travel. Peak season on the North Coast can fill up quickly, so early planning matters. It is best to begin with your home renal unit and then send your enquiry through the contact page form so we can start the visitor review process from our side.
- You speak to your home renal unit about your intended travel dates to Ballito or nearby North Coast areas.
- Your home unit prepares the referral information and sends the clinical records we request.
- Our clinic reviews the paperwork and checks the proposed dates against our visitor booking schedule.
- If more information is needed, we contact the relevant staff member at your home unit.
- The clinic doctor reviews the referral information and confirms whether your sessions can be planned here.
- Once arrangements are in place, you receive confirmation of the booking steps still needed before arrival.
- After each session or at the end of your stay, notes can be shared back with your home unit as required.
This process is straightforward when records are complete. Delays usually happen when travel dates are close, documents arrive in parts, or important details still need to be confirmed by the home team.
What you need to prepare before you travel
Although the clinical handover is mainly between units, there are still a few practical things the patient should prepare. Having these ready makes check-in easier and reduces last minute back-and-forth while you are travelling. If you are staying in Ballito, Salt Rock, Shaka's Rock or nearby coastal areas, allow for holiday traffic on the North Coast when planning your first visit.
- Confirm your exact holiday accommodation dates before your home unit sends the booking request
- Make sure your home unit knows the best dates for your travel and treatment needs
- Keep your identification and any referral paperwork easy to access during travel
- Bring an up to date medication list if your home unit advises this
- Let us know through the contact page form if your accommodation dates change
- Plan transport to and from the clinic ahead of time, especially over long weekends and in December
If this is your first visitor booking with us, try not to leave the request until the week you travel. Coastal holiday demand can be busy and admin takes time, particulary when documents must still come from another town or province.
How pricing is worked out
Visitor dialysis pricing is not usually a one-line answer because arrangements can depend on the type of booking, the clinical information required before confirmation, and the administrative steps involved in coordinating with your home renal unit. For that reason, we discuss charges only once the request details and visit dates are clear.
In general terms, the total amount can be affected by the number of sessions requested, whether extra documentation or doctor review is needed before confirmation, and the practical scope of the booking. Our clinic will explain the cost basis for your planned visit in general terms during the enquiry process. We do not publish standard visitor pricing on this page.
If you need paperwork for your own records, ask about this early when you submit your enquiry. The fastest way to begin is through the enquiry form on our contact page so the clinic can match your message to the dates and records coming from your home unit.
After your sessions and follow-up
When your stay ends, your care does not simply stop at the clinic door. A short handback to your home renal unit may be needed so that your ongoing treatment can continue back at your usual centre. This can include session notes or other routine information relevant to the period you were dialysed with us in Ballito.
If your home unit asks for specific feedback, we provide it as part of the visitor handover process. Once you are back home, any ongoing treatment questions are managed by your home renal team and the clinic doctor where needed. We do not give general treatment advice on this page because treatment decisions must be made by your home team and the clinic doctor. If you have an emergency after leaving the clinic or while travelling, go to the nearest emergency unit.
For local patients who are not travelling visitors, our kidney check-up service is a separate service with its own booking pathway and review process.
What our Holiday Dialysis customers say
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Questions we get asked
Can I book directly without my home renal unit?
No. Visitor dialysis must be arranged with your home renal unit before you arrive so the clinic doctor can review the relevant information and confirm whether your sessions can be planned here.
How early should I start the process?
As early as possible, especially for school holidays, long weekends and the summer peak season on the North Coast. Early booking gives more time for records to be shared and reviewed.
Will my home unit receive information after my visit?
Yes, where needed. Session notes or other routine handover information can be shared back with your home renal unit so your usual care can continue when you return home.
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Ask about holiday sessions
Send a note through our contact form with your travel dates, your home renal unit and where you will stay, and the clinic team will contact you.
Open the contact form