On Tuesday 13 May 2025 Kidney Care UK brought people living with CKD, doctors, primary care professionals and policy makers to Parliament for a roundtable meeting, hosted by Jade Botterill MP. Parliamentarians heard powerful testimony of the impact of CKD and the urgent need to improve prevention of this life-changing condition.
Speakers at the event explained to MPs that 7.2 million people have chronic kidney disease (CKD) – a devastating and life-changing diagnosis. Kidney care cost the NHS £6.4 billion in 2023. Behind those costs are people enduring a huge toll on their physical and mental health as well as their life chances, education and employment prospects. MPs were told this future can be changed by taking preventative action now.
As our patient advocate and Patient Advisory Group member Harkaran said, ‘Prevention is not just better than cure – prevention is the only way forward’.
Clinical experts explained that a lack of political prioritisation of CKD has resulted in missed opportunities to prevent CKD and intervene early. This means missed opportunities to save lives and NHS resources, as well as increasing economic productivity in a significant proportion of the population. Given the government’s focus on prevention and economic growth, taking action on CKD – which is closely interrelated with cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and diabetes – must be a priority.
Kidney disease has been broadly overlooked by the NHS. People's lives are shortened, not because we lack treatment, but because we fail to diagnose them in time. £1 in every £77 spent in the NHS is spent to manage kidney disease.Dr Stuart Stewart, academic GP at the University of Manchester
Discussions at the meeting considered actions that government must take to improve the prioritisation, prevention and early diagnosis of CKD, ensuring fewer people in the UK develop CKD in the first place, or progress to kidney failure when a transplant, or expensive, debilitating and life-long dialysis, will be needed.
We will be writing a report bringing together the insights and ideas that were shared at the roundtable meeting and working with the MPs who committed to being an ally of people with kidney disease to campaign for urgent change.
Thank you to Anneka and Harkaran for coming with us to Parliament to explain the impact of CKD on them. Many thanks to all of you who helped support the event by writing to your MPs and sharing your experience of kidney disease.
Thanks to the Global Patient Alliance for Kidney Health for their support with our event.