Patients offered life-changing dialysis treatment inside their home across NHS Grampian area

NHS Grampian is offering dialysis patients across the north-east the opportunity to move to at-home treatment.

It follows a successful pilot of home haemodialysis, which involved a period of education and training, as well as converting an area within a patients’ home to install specialist equipment.

The treatment “cleans” blood when a person’s kidneys are not working properly by running it through a machine to remove toxins and excess fluid.

Around 250 people across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire are currently undergoing haemodialysis. The health board wants 10-15% of those to receive the treatment at home.

Four patients, including 54-year-old Victoria Adams-Ross, have piloted the project across the Grampian region.

Victoria, who was first diagnosed with kidney disease at five months old, has spent most of her life without the need for haemodialysis but her kidney count dropped rapidly in 2021.

She has been on the waiting list for a kidney transplant for three years and has to spend two-and-a-half hours on dialysis five days a week.

She told STV News: “The anxiety levels are so much less, as I was so stressed about getting the bus over to the unit in the mornings. It’s so much more relaxed at home – you’re in your own house, you can sit and watch TV, listen to music.

“I can have my heating on full blast, with my electric blanket on, and I choose what time I do my dialysis now. I’m beginning to feel better.

“I love to swim and I can swim in the morning and do the dialysis in the afternoon. That means I can sleep after if I need to. Sometimes before, having it in the morning would wipe me out for the rest of the day.”

NHS Grampian hopes to roll out the treatment to up to 20 new patients in 2025.

Service manager Scott Arnot said: “While having this treatment at home isn’t suitable for everyone – and we will always respect individual wishes and circumstances – it can enable patients to enjoy a more normal and fulfilling lifestyle while reclaiming valuable time to spend with friends and family.”

“We managed to deliver the service for four patients as we worked through this test of change, and we’re now hoping to make it possible for 20 more during the next year.

“There are huge benefits for patients who have their care in their control and can decide when treatment works best for them and whether to dialyse more frequently for shorter periods.

“Our clinical nursing team will always be at the end of a phone, via video call and will also make routine visits.”

At-home haemodialysis is being fully funded by the NHS Grampian Charity.

Charity lead Lisa Duthie said: “It’s wonderful to hear about the effects home haemodialysis is having on patients in Grampian, and the resulting positive impacts that has on people’s quality of life.

“We are incredibly grateful to our supporters whose generous donations funded this project, and we look forward to seeing more people benefit from at-home treatment during 2025.”