Canada: Kidney patients take treatment into their own hands

B.C. kidney patients take treatment into their own hands

Canwest News ServiceFebruary 9, 2009 2:22 PM

VANCOUVER — Kidney disease patients in Vancouver are the first in Canada to try administering a do-it-yourself dialysis regiment, says a representative from B.C.’s kidney association.

“The ultimate goal is that we help patients remain independent,” said Donna Murphy-Burke, who oversees clinical projects for the B.C. Renal Agency.

The nocturnal dialysis pilot project allows patients to manage their own dialysis runs three times a week, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., while they sleep at the hospital.

All participants in the project have been trained to manage every aspect of their dialysis treatment at home, Murphy-Burke said.

But many, she added, choose to use the hospital to take advantage of a “safe” environment to practise a sometimes daunting treatment or because they face restrictions where they live.

Other hospital-based nighttime dialysis programs have existed in cities such as Toronto and Edmonton, Murphy-Burke said, but hospital staff administer the treatment to those patients. Under the Vancouver program, a shift of responsibility lowers the number of staff needed and ensures that costly equipment is used 24 hours a day. During the day, the space used by four patients at night is turned over to others to learn about home dialysis. The pilot program which has cost the B.C. Renal Agency $46,000, is scheduled to end March 31.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/vancouver/story.html?id=1270798