Kidney Care UK Hospital Grants fund a wide range of patient projects, clinical equipment, renal unit infrastructure, and staff posts such as renal social workers, physiotherapists, renal counsellors and youth workers.
Project: Further development of My Renal Care App, Wessex Kidney Centre (WKC), Portsmouth
Post: Renal Psychologist, part-time, Sunderland Hospital
Post: Enhanced Recovery Nurse Specialist in Renal Transplantation, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Freeman Hospital
Post: ERAS Physiotherapy Technical Instructor in Renal Transplantation, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Freeman Hospital
Project: Further development of My Renal Care App, Wessex Kidney Centre (WKC), Portsmouth
WKC has been working with Ardia Digital Health Ltd. over the last 3 years to develop web-based software for renal patients allowing them to undertake self-monitoring and remote care with their renal team as an adjunct to their regular clinical care. This has been highly successful in the home dialysis population and is now in use for all patients on home therapies.
The next phase in development is developing the platform for use in the wider renal cohort including CKD monitoring, long-term transplant monitoring and advanced kidney care (pre-dialysis). The platform is being trialled through the NHS Transforming Outpatient project and the feedback from patients to date has been excellent.
WKC will continue to capture data and patient feedback. With the development it is expected that within the year this could be rolled out to 1,500 patients in WKC for CKD and transplant monitoring. Once feedback is acted upon, it could be rolled out to other renal units benefiting the whole renal community.
Funding was previously granted from the WKC charitable funds for the development of the home dialysis platform which is currently in use in over 100 patients. The grant only covered the running cost for 1 year to allow this app being trailed through the 100-day transforming outpatient project which is NHE England endorsed but does not come with any funding.
Ardia Digital Health Ltd - supplying £30,000 worth of resource; software, servers, security testing, insurance and support free of charge.
Post: Renal Psychologist, part-time, Sunderland Hospital
'The UK renal psychosocial workforce' by the British Renal Society and Kidney Care UK et al, Sunderland has no psychosocial staff available. As such, funding is sought for the recommended psychosocial workforce of 0.55 wte Renal Psychologist.
There is no specific funding attached to renal services for psychological provision. A small number of patients can access psychological support from the current Clinical Health Psychology Department, however this service stream is only funded for exceptional cases and not offered as part of routine care.
Patients are currently waiting up to 18 weeks to see a psychologist which does not offer the support they need at the time they require it. The department also has a psychologist working into Diabetes and often sees patients who are known both to the hospital diabetes team as well as renal services.
The post holder will be involved in developing a stratified model of psychological provision, this will involving up skilling non-psychology colleagues in the assessment and screening of psychological distress, and undertaking appropriate Level 2 psychological interventions.
This will involve the delivery of Communication Skills and Psychological Skills training, alongside psychological supervision to help develop and maintain these skills.
The post holder would also form part of the MDT and provide specialist advice and expertise to other professional staff groups on psychological aspects of care, and so helping to ensure a patient received holistic care.
Research suggests patients with better psychological well-being have better health outcomes, and reduced hospitalisations. The post holder will be able to provide direct clinical interventions and it is estimated this could be up to 138 patients per year.
Post: Enhanced Recovery Nurse Specialist in Renal Transplantation, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Freeman Hospital
The Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) concept had not been widely adopted in renal transplantation despite successes in other major surgical specialties due to the perceived complexity of transplantation.
The innovative ERAS programme in renal transplantation in Newcastle plans to improve the quality of care that patients receive during their transplant journey, reduce postoperative risks and enhance their overall experience.
The ERAS nurse specialist will be a cornerstone in the programme. They will provide counselling and facilitate prehabilitation prior to transplantation. They will act in partnership with patients throughout their transplant journey, empowering them and providing support to set and achieve daily goals. They will lead the “ERAS at home” project where patients continue to receive support closer to home. The ERAS nurse specialist will act as a linchpin, linking and coordinating the wider team, providing enhanced multidisciplinary support and ensuring the smooth running of the programme. They will also play a central role in quality assurance and the continuing development of the programme. These are unique roles fundamental to the success of this programme.
Post: ERAS Physiotherapy Technical Instructor in Renal Transplantation, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Freeman Hospital
The two part-time ERAS physiotherapy instructor posts will support a mobility programme that pushes conventional clinical boundaries. In this programme, mobility goals are tailored according to individual needs and are embedded within the patient’s daily plan. Patients are less restricted due to the beneficial effects of other ERAS components and are encouraged to extend their mobility gains independently when deemed safe and able to do so. This is further facilitated through graded mobility paths that are easy to understand and follow. The posts will facilitate the quality assurance process through the provision of key performance data on the mobility programme and will enable future development of the programme through staff and patient feedback. In the near future, these posts will support renal transplant patients to achieve greater potential with the help of a ward-based fitness centre.
The ERAS programme will be delivered in three incremental stages over one year to ensure optimal implementation and adaptability. Key clinical quality indicators have been identified for each stage that will be used to monitor the progress of the programme and guide its development through regular audit cycles.