An acute shortage of dialysis machines is causing numerous premature deaths in the UK, a study by the country's National Kidney Research Fund indicates. More than 100 000 people have kidney disease but only 34 000 are receiving dialysis or have had a kidney transplant.
Of the 71 UK kidney treatment units surveyed, 12 have been forced to turn away patients. Other units reported that they have been forced to take emergency measures to accommodate increasing numbers of patients. Some offer patients dialysis only 2 times a week instead of 3, while others hold overnight treatment sessions. Most units reported they were working at full capacity, with no appointment times for new patients. “Some providers acknowledged that the final options for such patients are conservative management and/or death,” the report said.
The number of Britons receiving dialysis, 328/million inhabitants, compares unfavourably with other European countries, where the average is 537/million.
“We are extremely concerned, for it is clear that the progress we thought we were making over the past 5 years has amounted to nothing,” said Tim Strathan of the National Federation of Kidney Patient Associations. He said the number of patients with kidney disease is expected to double over the next decade, as rising levels of obesity and related type 2 diabetes mellitus cause more kidney disease and failure.
More than 90% of treatment units surveyed reported they had trouble taking in patients from outside their area, and over 75% reported difficulties in arranging treatment for patients moving to another part of the country. — Mary Helen Spooner, West Sussex, UK