Dialysis patients 'to double in 10 years'

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Dialysis patients 'to double in 10 years'
The number of people on dialysis is set to double within 10 years partly due to the growing obesity crisis, experts warn.
 

By Kate Devlin
Last Updated: 8:07PM BST 05 Oct 2008

The scale of the problem threatens to overwhelm already stretched renal units, according to MPs and the National Kidney Federation (NKF).

Around 20,000 patients receive dialysis every year in Britain, but the NKF predicts that number will rocket to 40,000 by 2018.

Increasing rates of obesity and an ageing UK population, as well as a significant shortage of donor organs for transplant, are all to blame.

Already the number of kidney failure patients, increasing by around 6.5 per cent each year, is stretching some renal centres to breaking point.

In some cases, patients are having to be treated through the night, in so-called "twilight shifts", because of a lack of beds, according to the NKF.

Other centres are having to turn away patients, forcing them to travel great distances for the three-time-a-week treatment, the organisation says.

A "crisis" attitude to the condition also leads to patients receiving surgery that will allow them to use dialysis machines just weeks before their first course of treatment, increasing the risk that the therapy will fail.

The NKF claims that the problems are killing patients and that more will suffer in coming years unless the Government takes drastic action.

In a report published today with the All Party Parliamentary Kidney Group they are call for greater number of dialysis units across the country with extra capacity.

They also want to see greater planning that would allow patients to receive surgery earlier.

Better planning for the disease could actually save the NHS money, they claim.

"It is the unnecessary complications, the failure of the surgery and the rate of infections like MRSA, which are expensive," said Tim Statham, the chief executive of the NKF.

"If those bed days could be saved there would be more money to treat more patients."

Treatment rates in Britain lag the rest of Europe, he added.

He warned that Government plans to increase the number of kidney donations would not solve the problem.

"We know that donor organs last on average only 10 years, meaning that many younger patients will face dialysis again at some point in their lives."

The group also calls for patients to be were offered more choice about their treatment.

Studies have shown that those who receive dialysis more often but for shorter bursts have a better quality of life and tend to live longer.

Doctors warn that dialysis can severely reduce patient's quality of life.

Patients have to visit hospital on average three times a week for hours at a time.

Marion Higgins, a member of the NKF who also suffers from kidney disease, said: "People don't really understand the impact kidney disease has on your day-to-day life. Coping with dialysis and the pressures it puts on you both physically and emotionally is exhausting. Before going onto home dialysis, I used to spend more than 12 hours a week in my local hospital plus several hours waiting for patient transport."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said that Britain was now a "world leader" in early chronic kidney disease detection and management.

He said: "GPs are rewarded through the Quality and Outcomes Framework to identify chronic kidney disease earlier, allowing cases to be better managed and improving outcomes.

"The vascular checks programme announced by the Prime Minister in January is expected to result in the earlier detection of thousands more cases of kidney disease."

He added that officials had written to all health trusts last December to remind them to ensure they had plans to expand dialysis services.

More than 400 patients in Britain die every year on waiting lists for an organ transplant.

An official report into whether the health service should change to a system of "presumed consent" is expected to be published later this year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/health/3140090/Dialysis-patients-to-double-in-10-years.html