NEWS

HELP DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Locally there are several organisations offering help and support .

AGE UK Sheffield have been running a food delivery service for vulnerable people who are self isolating. Basic packages of food essentials are provided:

Phone: 0114 250 2850   or email  enquiries@ageuksheffield.org.uk

lLocal Councils are also offering help and support and it is worth checking their websites for regular updates:

Sheffield City Council have a community reponse helpline for Sheffield residents with any queries related to coronavirus. This is open 8.45 a.m. to 4.45 p.m. Monday to Friday :  

0114 273 4567

Click here for website

Rotherham Borough Council: Click here for website

Emergency helpline for immediate help: 01709 807319

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council: Click here for website

Chesterfield Borough Council: Click here for website

Kidney Research UK  are asking people to take part in a questionnaire on the emotional impact of living with kidney disease.

There are 3 categories to choose from:

• People with long-term health conditions
• Family members and partners
• Health and social care professionals

Participants will be asked about the emotional impact of living with their condition, the support they currently receive, the support they would like to receive, or the ways they support others with health conditions and the impact this has on them.

To take part Click here.

Experiences, Concerns and Support Needs of People Who are/were ‘Shielding’ due to Covid-19 and their Family Members

Would you be interested in sharing your experiences of ‘shielding’ due to Covid-19? We wanted to draw your attention to some research that we thought might be of interest to you.

The research is about the experiences, concerns and support needs of people who are ‘shielding’ and their family members. It will involve completing an online survey, with the option of subsequently taking part in an interview or focus group, if you want to.

Results from the study will be used to provide guidance to health professionals, policy makers and charities during the current Covid-19 pandemic and for future planning.

There are two versions of the survey:

One for people who are ‘shielding’ or were shielding and are no longer doing so, which can be found here:

https://huddersfieldbss.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3m8vuHigEBVuhM1

One for family members of people who are ‘shielding’ or were shielding and are no longer doing so, which can be found here:

https://huddersfieldbss.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8ByOTVXu6Re9Q2x

If you have any queries, please contact the research lead (Professor Ann-Louise Caress, University of Huddersfield) directly on a.caress@hud.ac.uk

Public Health England User interviews - £50 voucher incentive

Public Health England (PHE) Digital is conducting research for the redevelopment of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) website and is seeking volunteers to provide feedback. This will help improve people’s experience using the website to;
look for health screening information, take part in a public consultations, or lobby the government to introduce a new screening programme.
Contact the project’s User Researcher Micol Artom, by emailing
micol.artom@phe.gov.uk , to register your interest or ask any questions.
You can choose a £50 voucher, for Love2Shop, M&S, Amazon or Tesco, to thank
you for your time.
Please note, we will not record names and personal information and will anonymise any feedback you provide. We will group feedback to provide design inspiration and use it solely for this project.
The UK NSC currently makes policy recommendations on screening for: bladder, bowel, breast, cervical, lung, oral, ovarian, prostate, stomach cancer, and 100 other health conditions.

To read the current UK NSC policy recommendations click here.

Feedback would be given via 1 hour workshops, conducted either remotely or at a time and location that is convenient.

PHE are seeking feedback from members of the public who have an interest in screening and or health conditions that the UK National Screening Committee makes recommendations for.

Your feedback is very valuable to them and will help them to make improvements to their website to ensure that it is useful and accessible to its users. 

NEWS FROM NKF

Introducing our new CEO: Andrea Brown
The trustees of the National Kidney Federation are pleased to announce that Andrea Brown will be appointed as NKF Chief Executive, from 1st January 2020.
David Marshall, Chairman NKF “Andrea has been the NKF Interim Chief Executive for the best part of 2019, the trustees are looking forward in further developing the NKF and the services it provides to the renal community. As a patient led charity it is vital that our voice is heard clearly. Andrea is fully committed to this approach, and to take this mantra into the next decade and beyond.”


Andrea Brown “I have had the privilege of working with many wonderful people over the last seven years that I have been employed by the NKF. Working alongside all renal colleagues, the NKF as the patient led charity will ensure a brighter future for all kidney patients in the UK. Time cannot stand still for the NKF, or for the reason we exist, patients - we must move forward and get the patient voice heard at every opportunity.”
If you would like to get in touch with Andrea, please email andrea@kidney.org.uk

Have you received a kidney transplant?
The NKF is in the process of dedicating a page on their web site to celebrate kidney transplants. If you have received the gift of life please tell us how many years you have had your transplant, does your kidney have a quirky name and maybe a photo of yourself? We will add your details to the page www.kidney.org.uk/your-kidney-anniversary Please email details to pete@kidney.org.uk including the date of your transplant

Living Donor Event

19 November 2019

The Living Donor Coordinators organised a highly successful evening at Bramall Lane on 19 November to give patients considering a living donor transplant all the information they needed. They were able to listen to and meet recipients of kidneys along with their donors.

The evening included a pie and pea supper and there was the chance to put questions to health care professionals as well as to donors and recipients.

GOLF CHALLENGE

SAKA AGM

The SAKA Annual General Meeting was held on Monday 30 September 2019. Thank you to the loyal supporters who turned out on a wet evening.

We heard from Dr. Bisher Kawar, recently appointed as Clinical Director of Renal Services, who gave us an update on the Department. He explained that some of the dialysis facilities are due to be upgraded, and that they will be looking for patient input into ideas for future improvements.

Dr. Will MacKane spoke about an initiative called "Getting it Right First Time"  (GIRFT), which compares best practice amongst renal departments throughout the country and enables units to help each other in delivering the best service possible to patients.

Mr. Steve Dilks from RPG Financial spoke about his management of the SAKA investments.

There followed the routine business, including a report on the National Kidney Federation.

SAKA Chair, David Marshall, spoke about the work of the charity and outlined our plans for the future, including changing our charitable status to become a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation). This will extend the scope of what we are able to do for renal patients.

Phil Beattie, SAKA Treasurer, reported that the finances were in a healthy state and thanked everyone who had supported the charity over the year by regular and one off donations, including those who had chosen to remember loved ones in this way. He also thanked all volunteers who had helped sell Christmas cards and said a special thank you to Andrew Raftery for raising money through his talks to various groups around the city.

Officers and Committee Members were elected as follows:

Chair: David Marshall

Vice Chair: Ken Tupling

Secretary: Peter Joynson

Treasurer: Phil Beattie

Membership Secretary: Glynis Beattie

Committee Members: Adam Greenway, Darren Lath, Kerry Radford, Andrew Raftery

An Open Forum discussion highlighted discontent over the new appointment system. Instead of arranging your next appointment when leaving the Outpatients Deprtment you now have to wait to be contacted.

There were also questions on the supply of medications if and when Brexit happens.

FREE Information and Advice Sessions

SAKA is funding Information and Advice Sessions at the Renal Unit at the Northern General Hospital. Any renal patient can make use of this service, which covers benefits advice, housing issues, consumer issues, non-residential care, money matters, legal issues etc.

Sessions are also held at Heeley Satellite Unit.

The sessions are run on our behalf by Age UK, but are open to patients of any age.

So far we have had a lot of success in helping people claim benefits, which they may not otherwise have realised they were entitled to.

For further details or to book an appointment:

Phone 0114 2502850 or

email: enquiries@ageuksheffield.org.uk

Download flyer here

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CARAVAN HIRE

As you may know SAKA used to own a holiday caravan on the east coast, but, due to its declining use, we took the decision to sell it.

However, the North East Kidney Patients Association now have a caravan for hire at Cayton Bay Holiday Park near Scarborough. 

Details: 2 bedroom, 6 berth, wheelchair friendly, fully equipped , hire fee includes free entertainment passes

Dialysis is available at Scarborough Hospital (4 miles away) and Bridlington Dialysis Unit (6 miles away)

For more details / bookings please contact Victoria Harrison: victoria.10harrison@btinternet.com

Phone / text : 07985 781364

or visit: https://www.static-caravan.co.uk/private-hire-harrison-cayton-bay

To download flyer with full details CLICK HERE

SAKA was delighted to be chosen as one of the charities to benefit from the 2019 Music in the Gardens. This is an annual event in Sheffield's Botanical Gardens organised by local Rotary Clubs. Six volunteers from SAKA sold programmes and held a bucket collection on the evening of Sunday 7 July when the crowd was entertained by Unite the Union Brass Band and Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra, followed by a firework display.  So far over £700 has been raised, with more to come later in the year.

PITHIA Trial

The PITHIA trial is a new clinical trial being rolled out across all transplant centres in the UK. The aim is to allow doctors to perform higher numbers of good quality transplants using kidneys from older donors.

For more details click here