Home haemodialysis

All haemodialysis is currently undertaken in hospital but in 2022 we appointed a home haemodialysis sister to develop the option for some children to have their haemodialyisis at home

 

Home Haemodialysis (HHD) is a dialysis service which has been offered at Nottingham children’s hospital since October 2022. This enables children and families to have their dialysis treatments from the comfort of their own home rather than coming to Nottingham Children’s Hospital multiple times a week. One of the big aims of HHD is for dialysis to fit into patients’ lives where it suits them as much as possible rather than routines being dictated by dialysis schedules. This enables children and young people to attend school full time and attend clubs and activities they may not be able to if having treatment at QMC. This dialysis can also be undertaken overnight once patients are established.


Dialysis is completed using a machine called the NxStage machine.  This is a gentle dialysis machine which uses bags of prefilled dialysate fluid to clean the blood in a dialyser similarly to in hospital dialysis. Treatments are usually 4.5 hours 4 times a week spread over the week. Children will need to visit the hospital once a month to see their consultant and for blood tests. Bloods tests are taken once in between these appointments usually by the local community nursing team.


Undertaking treatments at home can initially feel daunting for parents and families, however all families are provided with comprehensive training by a clinical nurse specialist and the haemodialysis team prior to completing any treatments at home. This training usually takes about 6 weeks and happens at QMC whilst the child is receiving dialysis treatment. Once at home families also have a lot of support from and contact with from the nursing team.

 

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