Annual Patient's Conference 2004 -

Conference Opened By - Rosie Winterton, Minister for Health
The Minister for Health spoke about the NHS provision of renal services in the 21st Century.

Dr Donal O'Donoghue - Future Shape of Renal Services
Dr O’Donoghue has been Clinical Director of Renal Medicine at Hope Hospital since 1994. His research interests include the epidemiology of chronic kidney diseases, progression of glomerular disease, renal anaemia and modals of service delivery. He is immediate past President of the British Renal Society and currently Co-Chair of the Renal Advisory Group advising the Department of Health on the National Service Framework for England.

Deborah Duval - Patient Speaker
Having gone into renal failure in her mid 20’s Deborah had a pancreatic / renal transplant in October 1994. She was back in renal failure three years after the transplant and had her second kidney transplant in May 1999. Her pancreas failed in February 2002 and she is currently waiting for a transplant. Deborah works tirelessly for patients; she teaches transplant related courses to nurses and is also chairperson of the fundraising arm of the British Organ Donor Society - last year she walked 117 miles and raised just under £7000 for the charity.

Dr Robert Higgins - Blood Washing Of Antibodies
Dr Robert Higgins is a consultant kidney specialist at Walsgrave Hospital and is a medical advisor to the NKF and medical pages consultant, reviewing all patient information placed on our website. He has been involved in this revolutionary programme of transplantation across antibody barriers in London and Coventry, and is chair of a committee producing national guidance on antibody removal for the British Transplantation Society.

Alison Dryden - Patient Speaker
Alison is a retired health visitor. She had blood washing at St James’ three years ago prior to receiving a successful transplant from her husband and spoke about the process and described what was involved.

Gerard Boekhoff - CEAPIR - Kidney Patients in Europe
Gerard Boekhoff was born in the Netherlands. Born in 1962, he suffered renal failure at the age of three. After numerous stays in hospital, operations and other treatment the only option was dialysis. He dialysed from 1978 until 1982 when he received a successful transplantation. He is vice president of CEAPIR and talked about the difference between the health professionals’ perspective of renal disease and the patients’ perspective, and the importance of having patient associations at local, regional and national level. He went on to talk about the European dimension.

Simon O'Neill - Diabetes UK - Prevention of Renal Failure in Diabetes Patients
Simon O’Neill is acting Director of care and policy for Diabetes UK. He himself is a patient, with background knowledge in nursing; he has first hand knowledge of the problems faced by kidney patients, having worked on a children’s renal ward.

Maggie Loughran - Patient Speaker
Maggie Loughran is our third patient speaker and has first hand knowledge of diabetes leading to kidney failure. From the age of 10, for 27 years, Maggie had diabetes. She suffered kidney failure due to the diabetes and was on dialysis for two years. After recovering from a stroke she went on to have a kidney and pancreas transplant in December 2000. Three years later she took up a post with Guy’s & St Thomas’ KPA as Renal Information and Development Officer.

Dr Michael Wilkes - Ethics - Payments for Donor Organs
Dr Wilkes is Chairman of the BMA Medical Ethics Committee and Chairman of the Transplant Partnership, a wide-ranging coalition of professional and patient groups set up to campaign for a radical review of the organ donation system. In July this year he was elected a chief officer of the BMA. He spoke about the continuing crisis in organ transplantation and the ethics surrounding the sale of organs.

Michelle Harris - Patient Speaker
Michelle Harris went into renal failure 5 ½ years ago and has been on CAPD since then. She had a failed cadaveric transplant 3 ½ years ago and a failed living donor transplant in March this year. Michelle is a qualified nurse and has continued working throughout this time; a sister on a urology ward in Devon, she spoke as a patient about her views on the ethics of payment for donor organs.

Christine Gleadell - Blood, Sweat and Cheers - Adventures on Group Patient Holidays
Christine from Freedom Apartments and Travel is no stranger to the NKF conference- presenting a workshop on holidays for kidney patients at Blackpool last year. This year, Chris organised a group trip offered to dialysis patients throughout the whole of the UK. The aim was to encourage and show patients and carers that taking a holiday is easy to do, and what a positive effect recharging our batteries has. Chris's talk "Blood, Sweat and Cheers" was a frantic look at the group’s holiday to Crete

Question Time - Questions and Answers

Workshops

The Work & Development of the Renal Information Exchange Committee

Psychological Aspects of Renal Failure

Diabetes and Renal Disease

Council Meeting

Chairmen's Half-Yearly Report to the Council

Extraordinary General Meeting