Amanda Wardle worked at Sunderland Royal Hospital as a children’s physiotherapist up until her retirement.
Now the 65-year-old has been celebrated by its Renal Department for the help she has offered to a research study which encourages patients to exercise as they have their dialysis sessions.
Amanda, from East Boldon, attends three times a week and spends four hours at a time undergoing the treatment.
It is used to remove waste products and excess fluid from the blood when the kidneys stop working properly.
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust signed up to a research study run by the Kidney Beam app, which helps people with kidney disease feel good through movement, education and wellbeing support.
It sets out exercises which help improve circulation, muscle strength, flexibility and co-ordination, with weights, floor pedals and other equipment used to help.
The study launched in July and has recruited 10 patients so far, with more set to join. It has seen Amanda support Research Nurse Jennifer Henderson, Consultant Nephrologist Dr Rebecca Ryan and Specialist Kidney Dietitian Aisling Barrett as they worked on the project.
To thank her for the guidance and encouragement Amanda has shown her fellow patients, the Trust’s Renal Team has presented her with a Certificate of Recognition and flowers.
Amanda said: “The presentation was totally unexpected and so kind of the team. I hope I have made a difference.
“We are very grateful for the support and help of the nursing staff in the Renal Unit, they have been so encouraging.
“The Beam app is really useful to help people with their lifestyle and live well.
“When we’re having our dialysis, we’re often sat for quite a while, so we’ve been working to gradually increase our movement. We’ve adapted things and built on it from there.
“It’s been a big help to improve circulation, build our leg strength and our flexibility and co-ordination.
“I think the benefits we’ve all seen have been positive and it’s also helped people be more confident.”
Aisling , who is the Trust’s Kidney Beam Champion, added: “We want to say a big thank you to Amanda for encouraging and supporting patients in completing their exercises and taking charge of the exercise sessions on the unit.
“She’s also taken the time to give us valuable feedback on how we could develop and promote exercise on dialysis from a patient perspective and used her knowledge of the area. We’re very grateful.
“We’ve had very positive feedback from the other patients about the benefits they have felt from Amanda’s support.
“They’ve found it’s reduced aches and pains, helped them have better mental health and they’ve gained confidence in exercising.
“Amanda has also taken the time before her dialysis session to support one of the patients who is registered blind. She helped them with the movements and gave them tips on how to do these at home.
“We have had feedback from the nursing team on the positive vibe the exercise sessions bring and how they help the patients to pass time on dialysis.
“We are now working towards getting some more exercise equipment in the units to help increase the variety of exercises the dialysis patients can do.
“One patient had moved dialysis units and was sad to be missing out on the sessions, they found them very helpful to help meet healthy lifestyle goals.
“That’s all thanks to Amanda’s efforts, we’re so grateful for her help.”
The Renal Team has launched a new hub to help patients with information and support.
It can be found here: Renal medicine
