Chronic Kidney Disease is a growing problem in the UK. 15% of UK population over 35 have CKD, but only 2 in 10 people with the disease are currently diagnosed.
AstraZeneca, Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP), North West London Applied Research Collaborative (ARC), Imperial College Health Care Nephrology Department, and London Kidney Network (LKN) have collaborated on a project to improve the diagnosis and early management of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in North West London (NWL).
AstraZeneca, Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP), North West London Applied Research Collaborative (ARC), Imperial College Health Care Nephrology Department, and London Kidney Network (LKN) have collaborated on a project to improve the diagnosis and early management of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in North West London (NWL).
The project has four phases: discovery, co-design, testing and evaluation
In the discovery phase data was collected from interviews with patients at risk of CKD, patients diagnosed with CKD, primary & secondary care clinicians as well as population data analysis and an academic literature review to understand the largest challenges and opportunities in the existing NWL pathways. Clinicians and patients co-designed pathway improvements together in workshops and these solutions were then tested in GP practices and with patients to get feedback. The solutions are now ready to be rolled out across NWL and evaluated with support from the Discover-NOW CKD data study that is analysing the CKD population over the last 10 years.
The resulting pathway recommendations include:
It was great being involved with the workshops. I felt genuinely heard, and felt that my experiences and views as a patient were validated by hearing the experiences and thoughts of others from different cultures, backgrounds, ages and hospitals all together… The other workshop with clinicians, it felt like a genuine partnership, and that I was an equally valued member. We were all able to work together to find a solution on how to diagnosis. It was also interesting for me personally to understand the various challenges for a clinician and what is possible, or the priority.
