Safety and Quality Award

Nights in White Satin: Home Haemodialysis during sleep

Everyone needs a good nights’ sleep but when you are spending up to 5 hours three or four times a week attached to a dialysis machine it is even more important. Imagine spending 20 of your valuable waking hours hooked up to a dialysis machine-as well as working, running a house or caring for children!

In August 2010 the first of four patients commenced Nocturnal home haemodialysis (NHD) which allows patients with renal failure to complete their treatment whilst sleeping-and offers massive improvements in blood chemistry and quality of life.

Needle removal during sleep was identified as a major risk factor – and this is how those risks were reduced to an acceptable level;

  • Machine alarms - volumes increased for alarms that cause greatest risk 
  • Butterfly taping - improves needle security 
  • Single needle dialysis - immediately the risk is reduced by 50%
  • Loop bandaging - A significant development that causes pressure alarms if lines are tugged during sleep
  • Redsense monitor - A new technical development that detects a blood leak of less than 0.1ml

Both patients and their families have benefitted from the introduction of NHD and a further four patients have registered their interest in NHD and will be trained over the coming months.