KidneyMatters is the website for the Kidneymatters News Letter of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients' Association

Important information and advice about Corona Virus
Corona Virus. More information will follow as soon as we are informed. Please click on the line below for more information Important information about Corona Virus. ( CLICK HERE)

Draw Results Raffle 2019/20

Winners name	Ticket no	Prize	Winners name	Ticket no.	Prize
MRS MCNEILL	10149	£500	M. ATKINS	10684	£50
A. CHANDER	14239	£250	K. SINGH	14486	£25
NATH RAM	13975	£125	HARJINDER	14847	£25
M. CHOPRA	14527	£50	M. J. ASKEW	07185	£25
MRS DOMINICK	04527	£50	S. CHANDER	14268	£25
P. TAYLOR	14370	£50	M. KUMARI	14324	£25
T. SEARLE	01975	£50

The winning tickets were drawn by members of the Q.E.H.K.P.A. at the
K.P.A. meeting on 8th January 2020.
All the winners have been notified.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who very generously supported
the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients' Association.
We also thank all those who included additional donations. There were too many to mention or acknowledge individually, but please accept our sincere appreciation and thanks.

K.P.A. Annual Draw 2019/20 Raised £3000

The Annual Christmas Draw took place at the K.P.A. meeting on Wednesday 8th January 2020
The draw was made by a member of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital who very kindly drew the winning tickets.

All the winners have been notified.

We congratulate all the lucky winners and thank all those who very generously supported us.

We raised £3000 from the sale of tickets and generous donation.

We would also like to acknowledge and thank the very many patients, relatives and friends who gave additional donations included with their Raffle tickets.
They are too numerous to acknowledge individually, but we thank you all for your generosity and kind thoughts.

Red Silicon Wrist Bands WHITE LETTERS

The Q.E.H.K.P.A. has organised free Red Silicon Wrist Bands for Q.E. dialysis patients.
These are available from your dialysis unit.
If you prefer, you can order one direct from the K.P.A. but you will need to send a 79p Stamped self addressed envelope to the address below and stating what you require.

Now with WHITE LETTERING on the bands.

FISTULA + No BP Testing / Needles + Q.E.H.K.P.A.
There are 3 sizes:-
SIZES are 190mm, 200mm. 210mm.
As a guide to help choose, if you cut out a strip of paper the length of the above sizes and wrap it round your wrist you can pick the size that fits best. The bands do stretch so they don't have to be bigger to go over your hand. . These are FREE to Q.E. Patients. If renal patients from other hospitals wish to purchase these they will cost £2.00 each plus 79p postage.
We are able to do this due to the generosity of all those who support our fundraising.

Send Stamped address envelope with a 79p stamp please to -
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients' Association
c/o Nick Flint
9 Brookhouse Road
Walsall
WS5 3AE

World Kidney Day Thursday 12th March 2020

World Kidney Day
Next year it is on Thursday 12th March 2020.
The K.P.A. together with the renal unit at U.H.B., will be having a display in the Atrium of the Q.E.

There will be patient information and details about the K.P.A.
So if you are in clinic on 12th March 2020 or on a ward or visiting a relative or friend, why not pop in, have a look and meet us.
Look forward to seeing you all on 12th March 2020

VISIT PATIENT INFORMATION IF YOU ARE A PD PATIENT
See new guide lines for cleaning your APD machine. Queen Elizabeth Patients Only.

NEW Go to Patient Stories to read what patients have to say about a Transplant
Visit our new section to read patient stories.

Simon Batch travels through India
Simon Batch had a transplant a number of years ago and decided he would like to visit India. Simon a very keen cyclist desided to do it on a bike. He is traveling from North to South. I'm not sure how long he is taking. This is a u tube of part of his adventure. Well done Simon it shows what you can do after a Kidney Transplant.

New Patients Transport Service Started 1st May 2017

The New Patient Transport Service started on the 1st May West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (WMAS) has been awarded the five-year contract to deliver the Non Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPT)

The new contract offers a better quality of service for patients and W.M.A.S. have to deliver this.
The main changes that patients will see are:-

1. Patients will be asked to OPT IN to sign-up for real time information alerts to track the status of their NEPT journey. This will give patients a Text /email when the vehicle is 20 minutes away from collecting from home.

2. Give patients the option to provide patient feedback after each journey via SMS text message or email.

3. Patients should arrive for treatment 30 minutes before their appointed time and collected within 30 minutes after finishing treatment.

4. Patients should spend no more than 1 hour on a vehicle if they live within 15 miles of your dialysis unit.

5. Access to a wide range of ambulance vehicles to meet the medical needs of patients, including high dependency and bariatric patients.

6. A new patient charter, which will provide information on response times and what patients can expect

These are the main changes and improvements patients should now by aware of.

The CCG will be introducing eligibility criteria for transport. Anyone who needs transport because of a medical condition is entitled to it. This means if they are unable to use public transport or unfit to drive due to their condition or the treatment they are receiving they will be entitled to transport. If patients have a financial problem and are on benefits then the cost of train, bus, taxi, or petrol cost can be claimed back from the Hospital Travel Scheme, your unit will have details how to claim this.

To help the K.P.A. monitor performance and how these changes are implemented we ask all the patients who use transport to inform us about how the service is working for them.

Please text, email or write to us. You can find us under CONTACTS The only way to make sure you get the service you need and deserve is to let us know.

Send details of how you get on with the service giving times, dates, and the journey details.

Patient transport must improve so help us to help you.

We look forward to a new service meeting our needs
.

Obtaining your immunosuppression. Questions answered
If you go to "Patient Information" and click "General Information" There is an item produced by the Hospital which should answer all your question. If you need further advice please phone the unit. All the numbers are on the page.

Chairman K.P.A. Receives Member of the Year Award
at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Best in Care Awards

A surprised Chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients' Association, Nick Flint, was awarded UHB's 'Member of the Year' at the Best in Care Awards ceremony.

Nick underwent a kidney transplant himself 19 years ago and has worked tirelessly ever since to improve the lives of those patients with chronic renal failure for many years.

He works behind the scenes for you in many ways and is often seen in the dialysis units checking on the service and raising any issues with the QE and the dialysis companies. He is a peer supporter and takes phone calls from patients who need a friendly ear.

As Chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients' Association committee, Nick is known to man stalls in the hospital atrium to raise awareness about kidney matters to staff and visitors and puts together the newsletters from the K.P.A.

He also works as a patient representative in various projects to improve patient care in the region and works very hard to keep renal patients' interests represented in regards to transport.

His passion for supporting renal patients and their relatives has also resulted in the Q.E.H.K.P.A. raising many tens of thousand pounds for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital over the years.

Congratulations to Nick - a very worthy winner.

Festive Foods and Drink for Christmas
Do not forget to look on the Dietary information for details of Festive Foods and Drinks. There is also a Christmas Cake recipe for those on dialysis. All the information is provided by The Renal Dietitians at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

K.P.A. Supports Renal Research with £23000

Because of the very generous and continuing support that the Q.E.H.K.P.A. receives from kidney patients, friends, relatives and carers of patients and the public in fundraising we are very pleased to be able to support a renal research project being undertaken at the Q.E. This project will have a direct benefit to the renal patients treated by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and also involve the patients here.

The Research Project is led by Mr Nick Inston Consultant Renal Surgeon, who is looking at new ways to access patients' blood vessels for dialysis treatment. Mr Inston said: "Kidney disease patients who are on dialysis require access to the blood vessels multiple times a week and this causes the vessels to scar and narrow. This research is looking at ways to improve the success and longevity of vascular access for patients."

"With the generous support of the K.P.A., the Q.E.H.B. Vascular Access Research Group is leading research in this area. This current project is aimed at using a simple drug to open up the veins after surgery and increase the blood flow to enable more successful outcomes and better dialysis."

Mr Inston added: "I'd like to thank the KPA supporters for their generosity. It's a fantastic sum of money which will have a direct positive impact on renal patient care."

For more News of the Kidney Patients' Association
Visit the NewsLetter page for the latest copy of Kidney Matters The Newsletter of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients' Association

	KIDNEY MATTERS
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients' Association