A relative would like to visit for a few days but he requires to be dialysed every two days. Does anyone have experience of services available in Zug or Zurich? As its only for two or three sessions, I am happy to pay as he goes and not get tied up in red tape and regs and insurance matters....

Hi Felix
I looked this up - under the Verband Nierenpatienten Schweiz - under "ferien"... in other words, the Kidney patient assoc. of Switzerland - and "holiday list".... I copied both Zug and Zurich. The list is designed for people needing a dialysis center while on holiday.

www.nierenpatienten.ch

hope this helps!
Diane


ZUG
Kantonsspital Dialyse-Station
Tel: 0041 41 709 88 59
FAX: 0041 41 709 88 59

ZÜRICH
Universitäts-Kinderklinik Dialyse-Station
Tel: 0041 1 266 74 52
FAX: 0041 1 266 71 71

ZÜRICH
Stadtspital Waid Nephrologie / Dialyse
Tel: 0041 1 366 21 55
FAX: 0041 1 366 20 76

ZÜRICH
Dialysezentrum Zürich-Altstetten
Tel: 0041 1 431 38 34
FAX: 0041 1 431 38 35

ZÜRICH
Dialysestation Klinik Im Park
Tel: 0041 44 209 20 70
FAX: 0041 44 209 20 79
dialyse.impark@hirslanden.ch
www.hirslanden.ch

ZÜRICH
Universitätsspital Nephrologie / Dialyse
Tel: 0041 1 255 11 11

Generally if you have a friend or relative then you just take them to the hospital (I'm guessing this is where you'll get it done) and a bill will be sent.

I can only speak from my own experience - I had to take my brother for some x-rays. He wanted to settle the bill himself, but they said they couldn't. He wanted them to send him the bill, but they said they wouldn't send it to anyone but me (because I was in Switzerland).

When the bill arrived (after he left) it was only possible to pay by bank slip within Switzerland, so I had to pay the bill, and my brother had to explain to his insurance that he couldn't prove he'd paid it because I had to pay it for him. I think in the end he managed to get it all sorted out.

Your best bet is probably to ring or visit your nearest hospital and ask about the options. However, be prepared for the fact that you might have to take the financial responsibility and get your friend to pay you back. Then again - if the billing is arranged in advance it might work out more convenient than it did in my case.

wow! your friend is very brave and i fully support the effort to travel and visit. my father is on dialysis 3 times a week in the UK so i know the problems it causes although he is now quite old and frail. i cant offer advice on this but power to your elbow and go for it if you can.
i was in the UK 2 weeks ago and my father commented that he is lucky at 79 - some folks at the unit are 19 years old and face a lifetime of d unless they get a transplant. go for it and to hell with the cost - we are all a long time dead as they say.

Just a small remark, some of the phone numbers on the nierenpatienten.ch website have a now defunct prefix. All the numbers containing

+41 1 xxx xx xx were replaced with +41 44 xxx xx xx.

Felix, it's great that you make an effort so your relative can come to Switzerland, I hope he'll like his stay!