Planning dialysis while travelling: a step-by-step guide

Booking dialysis for a trip is mostly about sequencing. Do the steps in the wrong order and you end up chasing paperwork against a deadline; do them in the right order and it's a few emails spread over a few weeks.

Start with your own kidney team, not the destination. Ask your nephrologist whether you're fit to travel, and if so, get a fit-to-travel letter and a copy of your current prescription — dialyser, dwell or flow settings, dry weight, and anticoagulation. Most units can turn this around in a week if you ask early.

While you wait on that, decide roughly where and when. You don't need exact dates yet, but a destination and a window let us start checking which units nearby take visiting patients and what their availability looks like in that period.

Once you have your prescription and letter, send them to us along with recent bloods — including virology for hepatitis B and C and HIV, since some units need to know this before they'll accept a booking. We match you to a center, confirm a schedule that fits your trip, and tell you the cost upfront.

Only after the clinic side is confirmed should you lock in flights and a hotel. Booking a unit is usually easier to shift by a day or two than a non-refundable flight, so keep travel bookings flexible until you have written confirmation from the clinic.

Last step: pack your documents, medication with a week's buffer, and anything you use for your access or catheter, and arrive at the clinic early for your first session with ID and your confirmation in hand.