New regulation lets dialysis patients have check-ups elsewhere and raises the machine limit for centres to 80

What changes for patients

The Regulation on Dialysis Centres, prepared by the Ministry of Health, was published in the Official Gazette (Resmî Gazete) and took effect, Anadolu Agency, Habertürk, Cumhuriyet and A Haber reported. It sets new rules for how dialysis units and centres are planned, opened, run and inspected.

Under the new rules, patients can have their compulsory monthly dialysis check-ups at public or private health facilities other than the centre where they are treated. They can take a dialysis prescription written elsewhere to their own centre and continue their treatment on that basis. The aim, according to the reports, is to make care easier to reach when patients are away from home.

Patients who start chronic dialysis must now be told about kidney transplantation within three months at the latest and referred to the nearest public organ transplant centre, Anadolu Agency reported.

Holiday dialysis and treatment at home

The season for holiday dialysis, which lets patients be treated in another province while they travel, has been extended. It used to run from June to October; it now runs from May to the end of November.

Dialysis reports must now state why peritoneal dialysis, a method that can be done at home, is not being used for a patient. Anadolu Agency said the change is meant to make sure suitable patients are considered for it first and to widen access to dialysis at home. The basic rules for home haemodialysis stay the same, and nephrologists keep priority for monthly check-ups and prescriptions.

Capacity and inspections

The upper limit on the number of dialysis machines a centre may have rises from 60 to 80. If centres merge, their combined capacity is also capped at 80 machines. Foundation universities, Türkiye’s private non-profit universities, are now allowed to open dialysis centres and units. Habertürk reported that the aim is to plan dialysis services and centre capacity more effectively in line with current needs.

Habertürk and Cumhuriyet reported that administrative fines have been added to the sanctions used in inspections of dialysis services, to improve compliance with the rules.