News & Events
Home Dialysis Campaign Increasing Home Dialysis in the Context of COVID-19 in the UK – One Year On. In September 2020 NFK hosted a webinar discussing home dialysis during COVID-19 where it was revealed that those who dialysed at home were substantially at lower risk of contracting COVID-19 than those who dialysed in hospital. The national findings on home dialysis from the Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT report) and the impact COVID-19 has had on dialysis patients. There were also presentations from patients and carers on the benefits of home dialysis was also discussed. A national campaign to increase home dialysis in the UK in 2021 was introduced, NKF published a 28-page report which included seven recommendations on how the NHS can increase dialysis provision which can be viewed here:
Analysis from home dialysis data from 2020 provided by the UK Renal Registry showed centres with less than 20% (which is the UK target) of their dialysis patients that were dialysing at home, there is a long way to go before this target is reached in all centres. Analysis using the ethnicity of patients is also set out in the report. The overall progress of home dialysis from this data is disappointing. The NKF’s view is that this is the impact of COVID-19 on renal services, staffing challenges faced by the NHS and the impact of training staff and new patients. However, there is a great deal of support within the renal community to increase and improve the provision of home dialysis.
https://www.kidney.org.uk/recommendationsof-the-2021-home-dialysis-report The home dialysis campaign consisted of engaging on a national level with patients, government, representatives of the Renal Services Transformation Programme (RSTP), The UK Kidney Association (UKKA), Kidney Quality Improvement Partnership (KQulP) and renal Industry Partners. At a local level engaging with Clinical Directors of renal services and chairpersons of Kidney Patient Associations (KPAs). A home dialysis survey of kidney patients was also undertaken by the NKF in partnership with the University of Hertfordshire. A national Home Dialysis Peer Support Service for patients and carers has been established and a leaflet on home dialysis has been published.
INCREASING HOME DIALYS IS IN THE CONT EXT OF COVID19 IN THE UK – O NE YEAR ON
The full report and its findings one year on can be viewed at https://www.kidney.org.uk/home-dialysis-
campaign#Report
The purpose of the report is to share details about the campaign, to urge the kidney community to take further action and to share details of the NKF campaign for 2022.
4 | Summer 2022 | www.kidney.org.uk | HELPLINE 0800 169 0936
March 2022 Part 2
