24 February 2011
A local charity has launched a new fundraising appeal to help kidney patients at Epsom and St Helier hospitals receive the treatment that they need in the comfort of their own homes.
The ‘No place like home’ appeal, which is being run by the St Helier and Surrey Kidney Patients Association (KPA) , is raising money to buy dialysis equipment that will be installed into patients’ own homes, giving them more freedom and more control over their condition.
Haemodialysis is a time-consuming treatment, with most patients requiring three sessions of dialysis per week, each lasting for four hours. And, coupled with travelling times to and from hospitals or to one of the Trust’s seven renal satellite units (in Croydon, Crawley, Farnham, Kingston, West Byfleet, Sutton or Purley), dialysis takes up a significant amount of people’s time.
Dialysing at home means patients can undergo treatment as and when they need to without interrupting their plans and they can even dialyse in their sleep. It also cuts out travel times and costs.
Jim Rea is the treasurer of the KPA and is married to long-term kidney patient, Shirley. He said: "Throughout our 30 years of marriage, Shirley’s dialysis has been a huge part of our lives. It dictates what you can do and when you can do it - whether that’s going out for a meal, going to a friend’s party or going on holiday, dialysis always has to be your top priority. That’s why we’ve started training to do dialysis at home and we want people in the same position to be able to have the same level of freedom."
Clinical Director of Renal Services at the Trust, Dr James Marsh said: "This is a fantastic appeal and on behalf of the Trust and all of our renal patients, I would like to say a huge thank you to the kidney patients association for launching it.
"It’s an incredible commitment to improving the lives of our patients, and we truly hope that people can help to support the fundraising.
"Dialysing at home isn’t for everyone, but for those people who are suitable and who want to, it can be a real boost."
Jim added: "We don’t have an easy task ahead of us - installing a dialysis machine in someone’s home costs approximately £6,000 - £7,000. We would like to ask everyone to consider helping our appeal by either making a personal donation or by getting involved in a fundraising event. Every penny counts in our appeal, so all amounts are welcome - from £1 to £1 million!
"We’ll be collecting money in Horsham town centre on World Kidney Day, which is being held on 10 March."
If you would like to make a donation or to help the KPA (registered charity 266391) with their fundraising, please contact Jim Rae on 01403 242 601. Alternatively, you can email him at raedar@supanet.com.
