July 13, 2022 8.00 am This story is over 35 months old

Lincolnshire kidney patients on home-dialysis struggle with costs

Due to the spike in energy prices

Kidney patients, cared for by the renal unit at Hull Royal Infirmary receiving dialysis at home and saving the NHS money, are struggling to cope as the cost of living rises.

John Fryer, from Winterton near Scunthorpe, has polycystic kidney disease and relies on dialysis three times a week to keep him alive, but the cost of running the machines at home has doubled since April.

He and his wife got £100 seven months ago to help pay for electricity bills, but say it is not enough.

John says: “You run them and save the state money, but you would hope to get some financial recompense for doing it and if you can’t and then it becomes too great a cost then you’ll just have to pack it up and go back to the unit.”

Andrea Reavill from Waltham, near Grimsby, who is waiting to go back on the transplant list and on a dialysis of twelve hours every night is getting no financial aid at all. With prices set to rise in October she will have to choose between heating and her dialysis machine.

Hull University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “This allowance is currently under review due to the large increase in electricity prices.

“This may result in different allowance being paid to patients dependent on the machine the patient uses and how often they are dialysed.”

Andrea Reavill says she will have to choose between heating and her kidney dialysis | Photo: BBC Look North/BBC News Hub