Corporate News: First Vascular Access Audit report published

The first report from the new National Kidney Care Vascular Access Audit – commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) and managed by The NHS Information Centre in partnership with the UK Renal Registry and the National Kidney Federation is published today.

It examines the methods and timeliness of vascular access3 for kidney patients requiring haemodialysis. Ten adult haemodialysis units submitted data, and the report shows that proposed methods for collecting, extracting and validating data are effective.

Illustrative data from the report also shows that future audits, which will include more trusts across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, will present a meaningful picture about vascular access, helping trusts to compare and assess their approach with others.

Aside from the 10 early adopter units, a further 79 per cent of adult units (50 of 63) are preparing to submit data, 72 per cent of whom (36 of 50) have a prospective date for involvement in the audit.

Richard Fluck, clinical lead for the audit and renal consultant at Derby Hospitals Trust, one of the early adopter units, said: “The National Kidney Care Audit is a fundamental tool to offering the best treatment for patients.

"This audit is about one of the most important aspects of the treatment of individuals requiring long term haemodialysis – vascular access – as good quality access is vital to providing safe and effective therapy.

“The audit is complex as it requires multiple interactions between agencies, but the pilot sites have shown the ability to collect the data, while illustrative analysis shows the data itself has the ability to answer key questions about timely and appropriate surgery for permanent vascular access.”

The report can be accessed from May 27 at www.ic.nhs.uk/kidneycareaudit

ENDS

Notes to editors

  1. The NHS Information Centre is England's authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with more than 300 health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researchers, regulators and policymakers in their work. The NHS Information Centre also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.
  2. The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) is led by a consortium of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the Royal College of Nursing and National Voices. Its aim is to promote quality improvement, and in particular to increase the impact that clinical audit has on healthcare quality in England and Wales. HQIP hosts the contract to manage and develop the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP). Their purpose is to engage clinicians across England and Wales in systematic evaluation of their clinical practice against standards and to support and encourage improvement in the quality of treatment and care. The programme currently comprises 30 clinical audits that cover care provided to people with a wide range of medical, surgical and mental health conditions, including diabetes.
  3. Vascular access surgery enables patients in need of haemodialysis to attach the haemodialysis machine to their blood supply. One method is creating an arteriovenous fistula - where a vein and artery are joined together - often in the wrist or upper arm. Joining the vein and artery together to create the fistula results in making the blood vessel stronger and larger, which makes it easier to transfer the patient's blood into the dialysis machine and back into the body. Permanent access such as a fistula means that patients are less at risk of infection than by using a temporary line.
  4. For media enquires or to request an interview with a clinical lead about the audit, please call 0845 257 6990 or contact: