Long-serving staff member Dolly Spencer officially opened the revamped Renal Unit at Heartlands Hospital.

Dolly, the Renal Unit’s administrator, cut the ribbon to unveil the refurbishment during an official celebration on 13 December.

Dolly, who joined the Trust 32 years ago, was chosen for this honour because she is the unit’s longest serving renal team member and because of all her hard work and incredible devotion to patients over the years.

Dolly said: “It was an honour to be asked to do this. The unit looks brilliant, it’s clean and fresh, and I love it.”

A special plaque was also produced, recording for posterity that the refurbishment was opened by Dolly. It is the unit’s first makeover for 15 years and has created a much improved facility for patients and staff.

The Glaxo Renal Unit was closed for three months while the work was carried out and outpatient dialysis patients were treated at community satellite units during this time. The revamped unit welcomed its first patients back in October.

Consultant Jyoti Baharani addressed dozens of guests who gathered at the official unveiling.

She said: “We opened the unit in 1994 and it was extended in 2003. It has become busier and busier over the years and is now open six days a week and has a high volume of visitors, so it was inevitable it would become a bit unloved.

“We put a great deal of hard work in and managed to secure half a million pounds from the Glaxo Renal Unit charitable fund for this refurbishment.

“So far all staff have been impressed and patients are happy that it’s a much airier unit.

“I would like to thank everyone who was involved in this huge piece of work and the teams based at the satellite units who looked after Heartlands patients while work was carried out, and the patients themselves.”

Improvements included much-needed environmental changes such as decorating, new flooring and automatic doors in the haemodialysis rooms.

There is now extra side room capacity for patients, a better waiting area and a new kitchen area. The work also allowed the creation of inpatient haemodialysis capacity on Ward 3 to support reduction in delays to treatment, and to reduce length of stay.