More patients should have home-based dialysis care

Jul 9 2008 by Gordon Robertson, Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser

SIR - Congratulations to the NHS Lanarkshire’s Renal Unit and the Active Living Programme.

Life on dialysis is hard but there are ways to improve quality of life for kidney patients by providing local kidney services and offering patients the option of home treatment.

There are 43,901 people in the UK receiving renal replacement therapy according to the most recent renal registry report.

But the registry also reveals that less than 25 per cent of dialysis patients receive their treatment at home, and the discrepancy widens depending on your age or even where you live.

Current health policy relating to the care of patients’ advocates delivering care closer to the patients’ home.

With current dialysis capacity issues and a focus on patient choice, shouldn’t more patients be able to choose a home-based treatment?

Samantha Addie,

Dialysis Options.

By e-mail.