"Renal Services in Northern Ireland"

The NHS seems under strain from trying to get a call to your GP to waiting for secondary care (if you don't have the money to go private)

Not so with renal services. Chronic Kidney Disease is rising and there is no cure. It is a complex condition that affects everyone differently and it takes multiple heads to find the optimum treatment.

Having landed into the world of kidney failure and the NHS with my daughter who had just turned 16 let me see with my own eyes how this renal team works together for the best treatments for their patients.  Firstly thank goodness they operate a holistic approach there fore I could stay with my daughter all the time. 

I didn't realise that nurses work a 12 hour day.  I didn't realise that consultants work far beyond their contracted hours - all for their patients. The renal consultants do not do any private work and there is NO waiting list for people with kidney problems.  They will be seen within the recommended time.

Its a true saying that when the times get tough the tough get going.  During Covid for the first time most of the renal transplant centres in the UK closed and there was a surplus of decease donor kidneys. Could Belfast use them? Of course! They moved from the City hospital which was the Nightingale hospital to RVH burns unit and transplanted 101 patients in 101 days, clearing the transplant waiting by 2/3

My daughter received a transplant and is seen every 3 months If she becomes sick she is always checked out. This renal team is super human and deserve all the support that can be given, A credit to all involved. 

We have 7 dialysis units in NI all efficiently running with caring staff where patients are treated with dignity and are safe. A family atmosphere.  

They dedicate their lives in caring for their patients, the greatest story of humanity surrounded by the Gift of LIfe