A recent piece in the British Medical Journal highlighted the issue of different parts of the country getting you onto the transplant waiting list at differing rates. For example in some areas only a quarter of all new dialysis patients get added to the register within 2 years of starting their dialysis treatment, while in others its over two-thirds. And, the report goes on to say that this does not appear to have any relevance to the patient’s condition.
Did you know that as of now (September 2010) there are over 6900 adults waiting for a kidney transplant, and over 110 children.
The average wait time for an adult kidney is 841 days, but as we know, as we see it happening, many die before they get one! Thankfully children wait less time at just over 160 days!
However, age will play a part, the older you are the less likely you will get on the list or a transplant – which, given that the government is about to scrap the manadatory retirement age, means we will all be working longer and harder – so need one just as much at a greater age as a younger patient. (and as I keep being told I am of advanced years, I have to keep lying about my age!)
The study of 16,202 dialysis patients in 65 UK renal centres was carried out by the UK Renal Registry and the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT).
