West Yorkshire Kidney Health

Chronic kidney disease (CKD)

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects over 3.5 million people in the UK, and it is projected that this will increase to over 4 million by 2030. General symptoms are however not often apparent or diagnosed until a later stage. Without proactive change, there will be a significant population within West Yorkshire presenting at later stages of CKD, with the associated long-term conditions.

There is a clear need to proactively test for kidney damage within at-risk populations, particularly those with hypertension who will have an increased risk of CKD development. In turn, patients in all stages of CKD are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Routine uACR testing for patients with hypertension will enable detection of CKD in the earlier stages. Via earlier identification and treatment there will be a decreased risk of progression to cardiovascular disease, in addition to dialysis or kidney transplant avoidance.

West Yorkshire Minuteful Kidney and Hypertension Health Technology Adoption and Acceleration Funding (HTAAF)

In November 2023, West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (WYICB) secured funding via the Health Technology Adoption and Acceleration Fund (HTAAF) to improve patient access to Urine ACR (uACR) testing using an ‘at home’ test solution (Minuteful Kidney) provided by Healthy.io.

The Minuteful Kidney solution consists of a uACR home testing kit delivered to patient’s registered home address by Healthy.io and used with a patient’s smartphone and a free downloadable application/app. Patients with hypertension who would otherwise be required to attend a GP clinic for traditional uACR testing will be provided with a quick, easy, safe, and convenient alternative to ‘in clinic’ uACR tests. This in turn will support practices to reduce the backlog of untested patients with hypertension whilst supporting individuals/patients who may otherwise be disengaged with their GP for traditional testing methods.

Minuteful Kidney deployment will commence across participating GP practices from the 5^th March 2024 and progress until 28^th February 2025, following which an evaluation will take place and an understanding of how digital uACR testing may be used sustainably in the WY CKD pathway moving forward.

Communication

West Yorkshire Minuteful HTN initial invite letter: a letter to all GP practices across West Yorkshire before launching the Minuteful Kidney and Hypertension (HTN) project sharing an overview of what the project means for primary care and an invitation to participate.

West Yorkshire Minuteful HTN secondary care letter: a letter to all specialist renal services across West Yorkshire before launching the Minuteful Kidney and Hypertension (HTN) project sharing an overview of the project and potential impact for secondary care.

Secondary prevention of CKD: Final call to participate in Minuteful Kidney and hypertension project letter: a letter to Primary Care Practice Managers and Senior Partners calling all those practices who have not yet taken up their Minuteful Kidney kit allocation to onboard with Healthy.io as soon as possible - to optimise the reach and access to the Minuteful Kidney home UACR test for those living with hypertension within the project delivery window.

West Yorkshire Minuteful Kidney and Hypertension Project resources

1. Practice Leaflets

2. Minuteful Kidney FAQ and Patient Feedback

Minuteful Kidney FAQ and Patient Feedback

3. The Remote Kidney Care Toolkit

The Remote Kidney Care Toolkit highlights best practice and improves the quality of remote kidney care appointments for people from underserved groups.

4. Practice Kidney Health Management Education and Post uACR Test Guidance

a. Post uACR Test Result Process: Post ‘At Home’ uACR Test ‘Follow Up Process
b. WY Guidance for CKD Management: West Yorkshire Guideline for the Management of Chronic Kidney Disease in Adults
c. NICE CKD guidelines: Primary Care CKD Management Scenario
d. CKD Recorded Practice Education Session (March 2024)
Urine test for patients
Sick day rules
GP CKD letter template

5. GP Information Pack

6. Minuteful Kidney Clinical Safety File and Resources

DCB0160 WY Hazard Log: MFK WY ICB Hazard Log DCB0160 v1.0
DCB0160 Clinical Risk Management Plan and Clinical Safety Case Report: DCB0160 Clinical Risk Management Plan and Clinical Safety Case Report
DCB0129 - Due to the commercial sensitivity of the supplier’s DCB0129 documentation and supporting evidence, these documents cannot be accessed via the above West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership website. To obtain these documents, please email dawn.kellett1@nhs.net who will send these documents via SafeDrop due to the large file sizes.

7. Training

Webinar recording and slides from the virtual launch of the West Yorkshire Minuteful Kidney and Hypertension Project on 27th March 2024:

8. Preventing CKD progression

The London Kidney Network (LKN) has produced practical guidance and resources for primary care teams to improve how they identify, code and optimise care for people with CKD

Other resources

Cognitant Kidney Essentials web resources – helping people understand what chronic kidney disease is

1. Public information resources

Cholesterol, Statins and Kidney Essentials resources:

Visit the Heart UK website for information on cholesterol and how when there are high levels are in the blood, cholesterol can lead to future health problems. There are booklets which can be downloaded too.

This resource from kidney.org.uk explains why someone with chronic kidney disease may be prescribed statins:

Cholesterol and Statins

The Kidney Essentials resources below expain what chronic kidney disease is and how it is managed:

Please note: When you use the QR code or link to Kidney Essentials, you will see two options: a ‘log in’ option or ‘continue without logging in’ option. Logging in is optional - the same content is available whether logged in or not.

Kidney Essentials – Patient Info on How to Access

2. Selected national reports

Time to act on kidney health inequalities - Kidney Research UK
Disparities Report - The UK Kidney Association
UK minority ethnic transplant patients face double inequity - Race Equality Foundation

3. Y&H Renal Network

Visit the Yorkshire and Humber Renal Network's A-Z of Hospital Services (sth.nhs.uk) for more useful resources.

4. Healthy Hearts

Daughter and dad We are working with GPs and other health and care professionals across West Yorkshire to help reduce the impact of cardiovascular disease. Together we are supporting the West Yorkshire Healthy Hearts initiative to save lives by helping to prevent people from having a heart attack or stroke.

Visit the Healthy Hearts website