A Kaiapoi dialysis patient fears she will die, after receiving a letter warning her treatment could be reduced because of growing pressure on dialysis services.

The letter from Health New Zealand, seen by Chris Lynch Media, warned patients dialysis services are under strain and rationing treatments could become necessary if space and staffing pressures continue.

58 year old Georgina Mori said the letter left her worried about what could happen if she lost access to the dialysis sessions she relies on to stay alive.

“It was real shock because I’m thinking, I need my treatment, otherwise I’m going to have what happened to me yesterday,” Mori said. “And I blew out yesterday. My blood pressure dropped down to 65.” Mori said dialysis complications can quickly become life threatening.

“If you drop too low with your blood pressure, you could actually die. So it is a necessity for me to have my dialysis.”

Mori currently undergoes dialysis three times a week, with each session lasting five hours. “I do three days at five hours at a time,” she said.

In the letter to patients, Nephrology Department head Dr Penny Hill said there had been an increased demand for dialysis services across the country and planning for new facilities had not kept pace.

“I am sorry to inform you of the current challenges we have in providing adequate space and staff for haemodialysis for all people who require it,” Hill said.

“This is unfortunately not unique to Canterbury. There has been an increased demand for dialysis services across New Zealand and planning of new facilities has unfortunately not kept up with the demand. Our team have been advocating for a new purpose built dialysis unit and will continue to do so. However, this is likely to take some time,” the letter said.

In the meantime, patients may be asked to change dialysis days, shifts, or locations to help manage demand. “From time to time, this may mean that we ask you to change from one of your regular dialysis days or shifts to an alternative time,” Hill said.

“It may even mean you are asked to change location between the Acute Dialysis Unit, the ‘Pop up’ unit on ward 14 and the Home Training Centre.”

The only alternative is to ration the amount of dialysis that each person receives in order to create space for everybody who needs it,” the letter said. This would mean reducing the frequency of sessions from three sessions per week to only two sessions per week.”

Health New Zealand said such a move would normally be considered below the best clinical standard. “We regard this as suboptimal care,” the letter said.

“Rationing would be our absolute last resort and we really hope the issue can be resolved before we need to do this.”

“No one should have that threatened losing their dialysis sessions because it’s our lifeline,” Mori said. “That would be like taking people on chemo sessions away from them.”

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“When you’ve got no kidney function, you’re not able to urinate so much, so all that fluid builds up inside you,” Mori said. “So yeah, you need those sessions to get that fluid off you. The Christchurch Hospital needs to get better facilities for us,” she said.

“I have been asked if I wanted to give up doing it,” Mori said.

“I have a fistula in my arm, and I have two grandchildren that are really, really young that I’ve gotta live for,” she said. “Get your act together.”  said. You’re dealing with people’s lives. If we don’t get this, we’re gonna die.”

Kidney Health New Zealand General Manager Madi Keay said the organisation was concerned about growing pressure on dialysis services across the country and understands how worrying any uncertainty around access to treatment can be for patients and their families.

“Dialysis is a life-sustaining therapy, and renal teams work incredibly hard to ensure patients receive the care they need, often under very challenging circumstances.

“It is important that patients are kept well informed and supported if services come under strain, and that renal teams are supported with the resources they need to continue delivering high-quality care.

“The pressure on services highlights the importance of long-term planning in the renal space. As more New Zealanders develop chronic kidney disease, demand for dialysis and specialist care will continue to increase, making national planning and investment in renal services increasingly important” Keay said.

“At the same time, we need a stronger focus on early detection and prevention. Kidney disease affects at least one in ten New Zealanders and is often called a “silent disease” because many people have no symptoms until it is advanced. Many cases are linked to conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Early detection and good management of these conditions, along with maintaining a healthy lifestyle, can prevent or slow a decline in kidney function and delay the longer-term need for dialysis.

“Kidney Health New Zealand, the charity dedicated to better kidney health for Kiwis, offers free community testing events where people can check their kidney function. People can find out more or locate a testing event at loveyourkidneys.co.nz.”

Canterbury Chief Medical Officer Dr Alan Pithie said  has been significant growth in demand for in centre haemodialysis across the country, including Canterbury.

“This has been driven by growth in numbers of patients presenting and change in social circumstances whereby home dialysis is not able to be achieved or suitable.

“To help manage capacity Health NZ has today (Friday) announced, additional staff will be urgently recruited. Advertising for staff will begin early next week. While this is underway the team is working to minimise the impact on patients.”