The merger is also improving collaborations in research, including a potential cure for the rare kidney disease, IgA nephropathy, external.
Professor of paediatric nephrology at the University Hospitals Bristol, Moin Saleem, is teaming up with clinicians from Southmead to start a world-first study using gene therapy, which uses a virus to introduce genetic material into the IgA cell to cure them of the disease.
“The significance we hope will be pretty huge because at the moment there is no curative therapy for this disease,” said Prof Saleem.
“If this switches off the disease then those patients will be able to avoid dialyses completely.”
Richard Betteridge has IgA nephropathy and hopes to go on the trial.
The 32-year-old said: “It really does give you that sense of hope that there’s something you can do, and you are also contributing to advancing the science around the management of this condition.”