Archived Content Notice
You are currently accessing the Think Kidneys website. Please be aware that this site is an archive and contains content from the Think Kidneys project, which concluded in 2019. As a result, the information presented here is no longer being updated or maintained.
For the most current and relevant information, we encourage medical professionals to visit the UK Kidney Association for comprehensive resources and updates in the field. Patients and their families can find valuable, patient-centric information and support at Kidney Care UK.
We thank you for your understanding and invite you to explore these recommended resources for up-to-date insights and guidance in kidney care and health.
The Think Kidneys programme was developed to prevent avoidable harm caused by acute kidney injury.
Think Kidneys AKI ensures that information and resources provided on this site are maintained and kept up to date. The UK Renal Registry works with experts to keep the site and the information on it relevant and useful, as well as collecting AKI stage warning results and maintaining the Master Patient Index.
Think Kidneys succeeded in its original ambition of developing guidance and resources for health and social care professionals that would lead to fewer preventable cases of acute kidney injury. To do this the team of nephrologists, patients, nurses, carers, commissioners, dieticians, pharmacists, clinical scientists, care home staff and others worked together to look at what resources were needed, and these are now in the resources section of this website.
The introduction of improved reporting systems in pathology labs, and in many cases the introduction of AKI warning stage test results to the individual requesting the initial blood test, meant that the resources were needed so that appropriate and timely decisions could be made. Our aim is still to improve outcomes for patients with AKI, meaning less harm and suffering for patients, and a reduced financial burden for the NHS.
The NHS needs well-informed, proactive multi-professional teams, supporting patients, carers and the public to transform and reduce incidence rates of AKI. Think Kidneys and the information on this website can help patients, their carers and families, as well as the fit and well, to understand their personal risk of acute kidney injury. Think Kidneys helps everyone know where to get support and information.
The Think Kidneys AKI team developed the following:
- Tools and resources to support the prevention, early detection, treatment and enhanced recovery of patients with acute kidney injury.
- Education and training programmes based on good practice, which can be shared and made freely available for all health and care professionals so that patients at risk of, or suffering from acute kidney injury, are well cared for and supported.
- Awareness among health and care professionals and managers of the importance and risks of acute kidney injury so that local strategies can be developed to reduce the human and financial burden of acute kidney injury.
- Improved identification of acute kidney injury through the development of a central information system to identify patients with acute kidney injury so that services can be planned more efficiently and care improved.
- Patient and public understanding and awareness so that many more people understand what their kidneys do, how important they are, how to look after them and reduce the risk of acute kidney injury.
- Support for commissioners of local health and care services so that they can challenge the status quo and ensure the right pathways, including information and prevention and standards of care for people with acute kidney injury.
- Research priorities for acute kidney injury, such as basic science, clinical care and service delivery, to better understand the complexity of the condition.