Alan at home Alan and Karen in the training room Follow our X account @RoyalFreeNHS to see what our patients and staff are saying about us Rock fan nails home haemodialysis performance 3 to the January/February edition of our bi-monthly staff, members and governors’ magazine. The beginning of this year saw us reach the oneyear anniversary of our merger with North Mid. It’s incredible to see how far we’ve come and what we have achieved together in these 12 months. Just one of the benefits we’re already providing for our patients is access to a wider range of research – you can read more about the latest life-changing opportunities on page 4. In this edition we reflect on page 6 on our improving cancer performance. I am so proud of all the fantastic work that has already been done to reduce waiting times for diagnosis and treatment. But we’re not stopping there. As well continuing to cut waiting times we will redouble our efforts to provide the best possible patient experience when it comes to cancer care. On page 9, we celebrate our ophthalmology surgical team at Edgware Community Hospital on their recent NHS England accreditation. We also share the impact home haemodialysis has had for one of our patients on page 3. In addition, the development of our urgent care services is continuing with innovation and improvement in frailty services across BH, North Mid and RFH. On page 8, we highlight one of these developments and look at the impact of the dedicated frailty bay at the RFH. I look forward to seeing us go further and faster in offering the best of the NHS to our patients in the year ahead. Thank you, as always, for your exceptional hard work and dedication. Alan Last is battling a cough but the 66-year-old kidney dialysis patient is feeling pretty pleased with himself. For the last three weeks he’s been dialysing at home after undergoing weeks of training at the St Pancras Kidney and Dialysis Centre guided by Karen Turner, a home therapies clinical nurse specialist. Alan’s ability to self-dialyse means he no longer has to attend BH four times a week for four-hour sessions. On top of that he’s no longer having to factor in waiting for patient transport back and forth, another timeconsuming part of his routine. Now he dialyses at times that suit him, in the comfort of his living room. Alan admits that when Karen first suggested home dialysis training, he was unsure. “I was very much in favour of anything which meant I didn’t have to go to hospital, but I did wonder if I would master it,” he said. “An added complication is I’m colour blind, so I had to be confident I knew where everything was supposed to go without relying on the colour coded instructions. “On top of that I knew I would have to self-needle to enable the artificial kidney machine to filter waste products out of my blood.” Alan says keeping calm is key to his success. He said: “If there is a problem I try and think things through logically. I used to work with rock bands and if there is one lesson I learned it was not to panic!” Alan’s flat is not large, but a box room is used to store all the kit he requires. He also has a home alarm and a panic button. He said: “I’m so happy that I’ve done this. The training has been fantastic, and Karen regularly checks in with me which is enormously reassuring.” Karen is clearly delighted with Alan’s achievement and how the home dialysis service is continuing to steadily grow. Hello and welcome Peter Landstrom Group chief executive Key to abbreviations: Barnet Hospital: BH Chase Farm Hospital: CFH North Middlesex University Hospital: North Mid Royal Free Hospital: RFH Royal Free London: RFL 2 From just five patients when Karen joined in 2024 there are now 19. Patients who are still working find it particularly beneficial to be able to home dialyse, but age is no limit – the oldest home dialysis convert is 90 years old. Karen ensures home dialysis is now part of the conversation from the earliest opportunity. With approximately 850 patients on haemodialysis in the trust, there is still plenty of scope to grow the service. Karen said: “I attend the patient education session for pre-dialysis. That means people hear about this option even before they’ve started their dialysis journey. The key to success is the patient’s own motivation and it helps to plant that seed from the start.” She added: “There is a small cost saving to home dialysis, more when you factor in no longer requiring patient transport, but for me the major benefit is giving people back their independence. It changes their lives immeasurably.” “ “ The key to success is the patient’s own motivation
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