NKF Campaigns Zone:
Letter from Rosie Winterton (Minister of Health at the Dept. of Health) to Michael Hill and Gary Lloyd (NKF Co-Chairmen). Mr Michael Hill and Mr Gary Lloyd, Dear Mr Hill and Mr Lloyd, Thankyou for your letter of 22 June about haemodialysis for kidney patients when away from home. I agree that, whether it is for pleasure or work, it is important that kidney patients can spend time away from home and have dialysis when they need it. This view was made clear in the National Service Framework (NSF) for Renal Patients, and local Kidney Patient Associations may want to use this in discussion with their local health organisations. The NSF states: “Like everybody else, people with [established renal failure] will want to have a quality of life that includes work, family visits, everyday pleasures and holidays, but for those on dialysis taking a holiday is only possible with careful planning and preparation. People on haemodialysis will need to have a holiday destination near a dialysis unit with facilities available. For peritoneal dialysis patients, dialysis fluids will need to be delivered to their holiday address.” It is important that you understand that we are setting the NHS free from the shackles of Whitehall and releasing it from central instructions. The money for running the NHS, and responsibility for how it is spent, is transferring to local health commissions and health providers. This is what patients and staff told us they wanted. As a result, local health services will be able to determine how resources are spent and how services are run within a framework of national standards. A £60 million capital investment programme to expand renal services started four years ago. There are at least 700 extra dialysis stations and 28 more dialysis units. This will make it easier for renal patients to take holidays and travel on business. The European Working Time Directive states that people are entitled to a minimum of four weeks’ leave each year. However, it does not stipulate that all this time is to be taken as vacation away from the employee’s normal place of residence. We do not therefore feel that this legislation requires Primary Care Trusts to specify how much holiday dialysis patients should be entitled to when away from home. Whilst this summarises our position, group of renal specialised commissioners have come together to develop commissioning tools to support the Renal NSF. They have asked Bob Dunn, your National Advocacy Officer, to service as chairman of the group. I have asked my officials to contact the group and highlight to them the importance of the relevant section on holiday dialysis in the Renal NSF. In the longer term, I expect the system of ‘payment by results’ to provide a transparent, rules-based system for paying for kidney dialysis for people taking holidays in England. This is a major financial reform that will be phased in over the next few years before full roll-out in England in 2008. It will promote fairness in payment for work done and is key to patient choice. It will mean that funds can follow individual patients for treatment, including dialysis. You mentioned the Department of Health website advice on temporary dialysis. I have asked for this to be updated to ink it with the Renal NSF and to reflect changes in the E111 arrangements for kidney patients travelling abroad. I hope this reply is helpful. Yours sincerely,
Rosie Winterton |