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

From Nick Flint, Chairman, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients' Association

The Q.E.H.K.P.A. is fortunate that we do not have any paid members of staff as we are all volunteers.
Also we do not have any offices to pay for, so all the funds we raise are for the benefit of the Renal Patients, the Renal Departments and the Dialysis Units of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

We have continued to help and support the Hospital and Patients.
We have been able to continue with some of the projects we started with before covid. The two patient day rooms on wards 303 and 305 have been redecorated and new tables and chairs provided in ward 303. This will make it more comfortable for patients who like to be up and about while in Hospital.
We are also providing the funds for Christmas Decorations in the renal areas at the Hospital and Christmas Boxes for the patients who are in Hospital over Christmas.

We are pleased because of the generosity of supporters we have contributed £100,000 to the Birmingham Transplant Centre. This will be of great benefit for the Renal Patients who are having transplants.

Around the Dialysis Units you will see new posters with advice on healthy eating, celebrations foods for special occasions and controlling your diet. These have been funded by the Q.E.H.K.P.A. and all the information is from the Renal Dietitians at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. .

If you would like copies of them or want to read them, they are on this website under “Dietary Information” along with other very useful ideas to help make your diets interesting.

We will be contacting the Managers of the Q.E Dialysis units to ask if they are able and willing to organise something for their patients at Christmas. We have limited funds available to support them.

We are not organising our annual Christmas raffle again this year as we found it has become very uneconomical with all the cost involved.

What would be nice is if anyone would like to make a donation to us instead. This can be done on this web site on “Donations” via paypal

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported us over recent months with donations. Thank you all.

I would also pass my deepest sympathies, and those of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients' Association, to those families who have lost a loved ones. We have written to those we were told about but sadly due to “patient confidentiality” the Hospital is not able to give us names and addresses of all.

If you want ideas for festive foods in the coming weeks there are lots of ideas on our “Dietary” page, and all this information is provided by the Dietitians at the Q.E Hospital. If you need more help with this please contact the Dietitian at your dialysis unit and I'm sure they will be willing to advise you.

I would also like to thank all the staff who help and look after us all.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and please contact us if you think we might be able help.

Let's all hope for a good 2025.

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.

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 2016
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

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Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kidney Patients' Association