Helping to prevent, detect and manage acute kidney injury

Last month, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published an updated version of their acute kidney injury quality standard (QS76).

NICE aims to balance high-quality care with value for money, across the NHS and social care sectors, to deliver better outcomes for individuals and society as a whole. It provides independent assessments to produce guidance for health and social care practitioners, recommendations that can drive healthcare innovation, and it also encourages the uptake of best practice. The organisation’s quality standards in particular set out priority areas for improvement in health and social care.

Published in March 2023, the updated acute kidney injury quality standard (QS76) aims to drive improvement in the care of patients with greater risk of developing acute kidney injury. Many people at risk of developing this condition are not aware of the potential causes, or what they can do to reduce their risk. NICE recognises the need for people to be better informed of how to maintain their kidney health, to make it easier for individuals to prevent this type of kidney failure or damage, and to reduce the number of patients admitted to hospitals with this condition.

To support this, the standard consists of a prioritised set of specific, concise and measurable statements. It provides advice and guidance for healthcare professionals, service providers, commissioners, and people at risk of kidney damage themselves.

While it was first published in 2014, the quality standard QS76 was updated and replaced last month following discussions with NHS England’s Renal Services Transformation Programme and the UK Kidney Association. The latest version includes new priority areas for improvement in the care of patients with acute kidney injury.