Oxford Kidney Unit expands use of shared haemodialysis care

The Oxford Kidney Unit has massively increased the number of haemodialysis patients engaged in shared care, where patients are supported to take part in their own treatment.

People receiving haemodialysis (HD) at a centre often have low levels of engagement in their own care, which can lead to worse health outcomes.

In a paper published in the BMJ Open Quality journal, the team showed that after a programme of consultation, training and engagement activities with staff and patients, the number of patients involved in SHC activities rose from 19 out of 483 (four percent) in April 2022 to 220 out of 511 (43 percent) in December 2023. 

The Oxford Kidney Unit is based at the Churchill Hospital and has seven HD centres - in Banbury, High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Swindon, Milton Keynes, as well as the two centres in Oxford.

The changes were first implemented in the Unit’s two main centres in Oxford and then rolled out in the other five centres.

Renal Consultant Dr Udaya Udayaraj, who co-led the project, said: "Our aim was to encourage more patients to take part in shared haemodialysis care because we know that it helps them to become more engaged and take better care of themselves - which leads to improvements in their wellbeing and outcomes.

"This also helps some patients to develop their confidence and the ability to do their haemodialysis treatment at home, which offers better quality of life for patients and has the potential to save the NHS money."

The project's co-lead, Angela Pietrafesa, Deputy Matron in Renal Medicine, added: "This is the first project to demonstrate that it is possible to successfully implement, expand and sustain an SHC programme across multiple sites, even with limited initial experience among staff and patients. The method for promoting SHC that we have used could serve as a model for other HD providers in the UK and internationally.

"We plan to continue to offer shared care routinely to HD patients as routine standard of care."

Dr Udayaraj added: "We are very grateful to the staff and managers at all the dialysis units who took part for their commitment to improving patient care."

Pictured: Horton Renal Unit