The Irish Kidney Association has expressed concern about the suitability of a new dialysis clinic scheduled to open in Kilkenny next month.
Last summer, the Health Service Executive awarded a contract to the German-owned Fresenius Medical Care company to provide extra dialysis services for public patients.
Mark Murphy, chief executive of the Irish Kidney Association, expressed "surprise" that a company would spend an estimated €500,000 on fitting out a building without having secured planning permission. He said that the proposed facility did not appear to have adequate parking, was located on a busy street and did not have an ambulance bay.
Meanwhile, the HSE has extended, until September, a temporary contract with the Wellstone Clinic, which failed to win the tender to provide permanent services. The Wellstone Clinic is treating 48 people a week and Mr Murphy said "the patients are happy where they are" and "the thought of elderly patients [ whose average age is 70] having to be uprooted again doesn't make sense".
It is understood that doctors have also privately indicated that the Fresenius site is unsuitable.
Mr Murphy doubted that the area would have an adequate water supply as "a clinic like this would require 16,000 litres of water every four hours - dialysis uses a lot of water".
Last July, the HSE awarded the contract for a new service to alleviate overcrowding at Waterford Regional Hospital, which was forcing chronically ill and mostly elderly patients to endure return trips lasting as long as 11 hours, three times a week, for dialysis in Dublin.
In July 2006, after "a comprehensive procurement process", the HSE awarded the contract to Fresenius, which it described as "a world leader in the provision of dialysis services".
The HSE said "the new service will commence in the coming months" and, in the interim, Fresenius would operate a temporary dialysis service at Kilcreene hospital. However, the company did not provide the interim service and, one year on, has yet to establish its long-term facility.
Kilkenny County Council has already rejected two applications from the company to convert an existing building on an industrial estate into a permanent clinic.
Following these refusals, Fresenius leased a commercial building on New Street in Kilkenny city centre which it is adapting for use as a dialysis clinic. But Kilkenny local authorities have confirmed that no new planning application has been lodged for the facility.
David Coyle, a business manager at the Dublin headquarters of Fresenius, said work at the premises in Kilkenny is due to be completed next month and the company is in discussions with the HSE about its failure to secure planning permission.
However, Christine Eckersley, a spokeswoman for the HSE, told The Irish Times that "planning permission is not the HSE's responsibility". The HSE could not comment on when the new facility would open but said: "Fresenius have been working to equip, staff and kit out the unit in Kilkenny which is due to be completed within the timeframe set out by the HSE (August 2007)."