00:00 Despite being surrounded by people, there's no familiar faces in Townsville for Robin
00:08 Neade.
00:09 "Very lonely, stressful, sad."
00:12 Ms Neade's heart is at home in Mount Isa with her 20 grandkids.
00:17 Yet she's stuck living in Townsville receiving life-saving dialysis treatment.
00:24 While there are dialysis chairs in Mount Isa, there's not enough to accommodate her.
00:30 "We've got to be there in Townsville sitting down and wishing that someone's hurry up and
00:36 die.
00:37 You wouldn't wish that upon anybody."
00:38 She's living in share accommodation with other patients, but she doesn't feel safe there.
00:43 "You're shoved into a house where you have to share the toilets, the showers, and there's
00:51 men's are there."
00:53 There are currently 16 operational renal chairs across the North West Queensland Health District,
01:00 with plans for four more chairs in both Doomerji and Mornington Island.
01:05 But experts say the rate of kidney disease is not slowing across the region, and being
01:11 treated far from home isn't the answer.
01:14 "It can really impact on someone's mental health when they don't have those supports around.
01:19 And at times people can disengage from treatment as well, which is an absolute travesty."
01:25 With 30 people on the wait list for dialysis treatment in Mount Isa, Ms Neade has no idea
01:32 when she'll be able to return home.
01:34 "I miss my family.
01:37 Being sick here is just so stressful, you know."
01:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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