Audit on prevention and early diagnosis of chronic kidney disease in patients admitted to medical wards in a district hospital in the UK.

摘要

Early identification and prevention of chronic kidney disease (CKD) have been emphasised as priority area by the National Service Framework (NSF) for Renal Services of the UK (Department of Health, 2005). The NSF recommends that, once detected, early CKD can be managed in the primary care setting, with referral to specialist nephrology services in the case of progressive disease or end-stage renal failure. In September 2008, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidelines on early identification of chronic kidney disease in adults (NICE, 2008). Newark Hospital is a District Hospital with 2 medical wards and a bed strength of 56. The guidelines on prevention of CKD being followed in this hospital at the time of this audit were the Chronic Kidney Disease in Adults: UK Guidelines for Identification, Management and Referral 2007 (Chronic Kidney Disease in Adults: UK guidelines, 2007). We conducted this audit to determine the adherence of the hospital to these guidelines with regard to primary prevention and early diagnosis of CKD.