Renal Links...
The Association of Renal Technologists was founded as the Association of Renal Technicians in 1975 following a number of seminars organised under the direction of the Department of Health, the first of which took place in 1973 at the Falfield Hospital Engineering Centre.
The original mission was much the same as now – to promote the field of work shared by technicians and engineers working within the sphere of Renal Medicine. Principally aimed at National Health Service staff the Association also has among its numbers employees of various medical companies with interests in Renal Medicine as well as a few with less obvious links.
ART plays an important part in enabling Renal Professionals to share ideas and information, not only technicians, but also doctors, nurses and industry have all made use, at various times, of ART forums. The British Renal Symposium out of what was originally the ART Symposium and now involves Renal Professionals from all areas. ART again holds its own National Meeting as well as a number of regional meetings.
The ART website is continually being expanded to include new links and items of interest. The Association newsletter – ARTERY – is published quarterly carrying articles and information of interest to all Renal Professionals.
Current projects include the development of a training programme using the City University in London, a joint voluntary register of Clinical Technologists in conjunction with the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), and an affiliation agreement with IPEM to allow for a wider sharing of information and ideas.
Renal Medicine Collection http://tinyurl.com/49zcv Renal Search http://tinyurl.com/43bdb
The BMJ website was launched in May 1995 and contains the full text of all articles published in the weekly BMJ since January 1994. In addition, it contains material that is unique to the website. Currently access to the entire site is free. From 2005, some users will have to pay for some content on bmj.com. Click here to read more. http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7409/241
The British Renal Society provide funding for Renal Research
The BRS holds an annual conference for renal professionals with oral and poster presentations, debates and speciality meetings, and various social activities.
The BRS Renal Workforce Planning Group is a multi-professional panel of experts representing the renal community under the auspices of various royal colleges and professional associations in the UK taking on board recommendations from all renal healthcare professional groups, the Department of Health and commissioners of renal services.
It was convened in response to the publication of End Stage Renal Failure: A Framework for Planning and Service Delivery by the Kidney alliance.
The Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative or K/DOQI provides evidence-based clinical practice guidelines developed by volunteer physicians and health care providers for all stages of chronic kidney disease and related complications, from diagnosis to monitoring and management.
K/DOQI expands the Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative or DOQI, a project begun by the National Kidney Foundation in 1997 and recognized throughout the world for improving the care of dialysis patients.
Who is EDTNA/ERCA?
The European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association / European Renal Care Association (EDTNA/ERCA) was established in 1971 to address the special needs of nurses and other professionals that treat patients suffering from renal failure.
Since then, the Association has grown to become the most important forum in Europe for the exchange of information and experience for all members of the renal care team who treat patients suffering from renal failure (nurses, technicians, social workers, dietitians, unit managers, transplant co-ordinators, and other professionals working with renal patients).
We now have more than 5000 members in more than 65 countries worldwide
International Conference
Annually, EDTNA/ERCA organises an International Conference with over 3'000 attendees and more than 40 exhibitors.
Who are our Members?
EDTNA/ERCA is a multi-disciplinary organisation of individual members. Membership is open to nurses, technicians, social workers, dietitians, unit managers, transplant co-ordinators, and other professionals working with renal patients.
Hypertension, Dialysis, and Clinical Nephrology (HDCN) provides up-to-date, selected information on renal disorders and their treatment (haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis), and about hypertension, dialysis, and clinical nephrology topics.
HDCN is a place for physicians and nurses who treat patients with kidney or renal disease. Here physicians and nurses can find answers to frequently asked hypertension, dialysis, and nephrology questions (FAQ), pointers to recent review articles, and summaries of hot new hypertension, dialysis, and nephrology papers, abstracts, and meeting presentations. Also, information about medical products, devices, services, and drugs pertaining to hypertension, dialysis, and clinical nephrology are provided, as is a list of links to relevant hypertension / dialysis / transplantation organizations, medical provider networks, and databases. Much of the information presented is collected from a distinguished editorial board composed of specialists in the field of kidney or renal disease.
Established in 1988 as a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information - all for the better understanding of molecular processes affecting human health and disease
The Renal Association is the professional body for United Kingdom nephrologists (renal physicians, or kidney doctors) and renal scientists in the UK. It is active in the planning and development of renal services and nephrology in Britain. It is also involved in the promotion and dissemination of research and education relating to the specialty. The Association was founded in 1950, when its activities were restricted to holding scientific meetings. It has more recently come to play an active role in the development of renal services within the U.K.
The objects of the Association are:
- To advance, collate and disseminate knowledge of renal structure and function
- To seek means for the prevention and treatment of renal disorders
- To deal with any matters concerning the welfare of patients with renal diseases and the organisation of services for their relief
The Renal Registry is non profit making and as part of the Renal Association is registered as a charitable activity by the Charity Commission.
The UK Renal Registry was established by the Renal Association with support from the Department of Health, the British Association of Paediatric Nephrologists, and the British Transplant Society as a resource for the development of patient care in renal disease.
The Registry provides a focus for the collection and analysis of standardised data relating to the incidence, clinical management and outcome of renal disease. It thus acts as a source of comparative data, for audit/benchmarking, planning, clinical governance and research. The UK Renal Registry monitors indicators of the quality as well as quantity of care, with the aim of improving the standard of care. There is currently a concentration on data concerning renal replacement therapy, including transplantation. At a later date there will be an extension to other forms of treatment of renal disease.
There are many renal registries in other countries which provide data on the acceptance rate of patients for renal replacement therapy, the total number of patients being treated, treatment modalities and survival. The regular collection and analysis of biochemical and haematological information is a unique feature of the UK Registry.
Data is collected quarterly by automatic downloading from renal unit databases. Reports are published annually to allow comparative audit of facilities, patient demographics, quality of care and outcome measures.
The Registry provides data for participating renal units, NHS Trusts, commissioning authorities and regional offices. The development of the Registry is open to influence by all interested parties including clinicians, trusts, commissioning authorities, and patients organisations.
A more detailed explanation of the Registry’s activity is contained in the document ‘The Registry Rationale’ in the Report Appendix .
NHSIA Purpose - To do what’s best done nationally
As a Special Health Authority, the NHS Information Authority has an established and overall remit to:
“Improve patient care and achieve best value for money (VFM) by working with NHS professionals, suppliers and academics and others to provide national products, services and standards, which support the sharing and most efficient and effective use of information.“
This will be achieved by:
- Building and maintaining an understanding of the problems we are helping to resolve using consultation techniques involving the public and patients
- Enabling the NHS to use information to improve the quality of patient care
- Aligning our delivery in accordance with healthcare priorities, such as National Service Frameworks
- Creating a reputation for delivering products and services that satisfy stakeholder requirements
Our Objectives
- Support the effective use of national electronic health records to improve patient care through the provision of the Integrated Care Record System (ICRS)
- Provide information services and knowledge for decision-making for staff, patients and public
- Establish and maintain Health Informatics as a recognised and respected national profession
- Provide reliable and secure information infrastructure services
- Provide specialist support services for national initiatives
