THE decision by South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust to recruit an extra kidney specialist despite a recruitment freeze (Echo, July 5) is good news in our ageing society.

As demand for renal services continues to grow, it raises the issue of whether home treatment, where clinically appropriate, should be made more available, thereby allowing more efficient use of resources.

This is particularly relevant for older patients as they represent the fastest growing patient group requiring treatment for established kidney failure.

Over-65s account for nearly half of all patients currently on dialysis, but they are only half as likely as younger patients to access a homebased treatment such as peritoneal dialysis.

Home treatment removes the need for the patient to organise their lives around repeated journeys to a hospital that may be many miles from their home and enables them to maintain a more normal and active life routine.

Further information is available from the Dialysis Options campaign programme at www.dialysisoptions.org.

Samantha Addie, Dialysis Options, Otley, near Leeds.