Monday 19 November 2007

Renal Haemodialysis Patient - quality of care checklist launched

The Department of Health Renal Advisory Group held a workshop on Quality and Patient Experience on 27 February 2007. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss how to measure experience and ensure that the voice of patients and their own carers is incorporated into care planning, commissioning and service evaluation. Participants at the event contributed to an empowering checklist that it is hoped will enable patients to review to ask key questions to improve the quality of the care they receive.

Tim Statham, (Chief Executive of the National Kidney Federation) said “the NKF is aware that many Kidney Patient Associations spend a great deal of time trying to ensure that their Kidney Patient members are receiving the best possible care and have access to all available treatment options – only then will quality of life be maximised. Now the Department of Health, National Kidney Federation, and British Renal Society have joined together to produce a check list which will make this task easier. Providing these are now available all the time, in all the renal units, then patients will pick one up, start to fill it in, and realise for themselves how good or bad the treatment they are receiving is measuring up to what is possible. These are not surveys to be handed in. These are to make patients (and staff) question their everyday renal care”

The information has been posted on the NKF website and can be accessed by this direct link.