Kidney Care UK has submitted evidence to NHS England’s consultation on the future of mental health services and has repeated our call for the psychological and social impact of kidney disease to be recognised as a core part of NHS care.

Our response draws on evidence from our Psychosocial Manifesto for Action, our Left to get on with it report and the experiences of people supported through our kidney counselling and patient support services.

We hope the evidence submitted by Kidney Care UK and others will help shape a new mental health strategy which better recognises the needs of people living with kidney disease. We will continue working with the Department of Health and Social Care, policymakers and partners across the kidney community to deliver the views of people living with kidney disease to ensure that psychosocial care becomes an integral part of high-quality kidney services and that no one is left to face the emotional impact of kidney disease alone.

Throughout our submission we highlighted that living with kidney disease affects far more than physical health. Emotional wellbeing, financial pressures, employment, relationships and social isolation all have a significant impact on people’s lives and we have urged should be routinely recognised and addressed by health services.

Our Left to get on with it report, based on the experiences of 1,796 UK adults living with kidney disease, found that many people who needed psychosocial support were unable to access it and most had never had their emotional or social needs formally assessed.

These findings reinforced our call for all kidney patients to have their psychosocial needs assessed using validated methods at diagnosis, as they change treatment, as they go through different stages of kidney disease, at times of distress, and annually.

We also highlighted the important contribution Kidney Care UK already makes through our specialist kidney counselling service, alongside our advocacy, financial support and peer support services. These services help thousands of people but charities cannot replace comprehensive NHS provision. We have therefore called for better connections between NHS services and the voluntary sector, supported by sustainable commissioning and clear referral pathways.

The consultation also explored the role of digital technology and artificial intelligence. We emphasised that digital tools should help improve access to support and identify need earlier, but should always complement – not replace – the therapeutic relationships patients have with trained professionals.

We also highlighted the success of our national psychosocial training programme for kidney professionals and the recommendations in our Falling through the gAPP report that people should not find out about their condition by chance but need direct, personal and understandable information about their health.