CKD & KRT clinical data
The UK Renal Registry (UKRR) collects clinical information about adults and children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and those receiving kidney replacement therapy (KRT), including dialysis and transplantation.
Following patients over time helps build a national picture of kidney care, treatment and outcomes. These data underpin UKRR clinical reporting and support audit, quality improvement and research, helping kidney teams compare practice, understand variation and identify opportunities to improve care.
Who does the dataset cover?
The clinical dataset covers adults and children receiving care at kidney centres, including:
- People with CKD stages 1–5 who are not receiving kidney replacement therapy (KRT)
- People receiving dialysis or living with a kidney transplant
- People receiving dialysis for acute kidney injury (AKI)
Coverage of people with CKD who are not receiving KRT varies between centres.
AKI laboratory alerts are collected separately through the AKI laboratory alert dataset.
The UKRR clinical dataset, also described as the CKD/AKI clinical dataset, includes:
- Demographic information and kidney diagnoses
- Other diagnoses and comorbidities
- Treatment history, including dialysis and transplantation
- Dialysis prescriptions, sessions and access
- Medicines, laboratory results and clinical observations
- Care planning and outcomes
The UKRR clinical dataset specification — version 5 provides the full field definitions, formats and coding requirements.
Kidney services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are required to submit information about patients receiving KRT. However, the completeness of individual data items varies, affecting which comparisons and analyses can be made.
The data completeness portal shows the completeness of key information submitted by each centre, helping teams identify gaps and interpret national audit findings.
Kidney centres contribute information recorded during clinical care, largely from their electronic patient record systems. Information is transferred and stored securely under the UKRR’s data permissions.
Centres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland submit directly to the UKRR. Scottish centres contribute through the Scottish Renal Registry, which collects, validates and publishes Scottish data before sharing it for UK-wide reporting.
This clinical dataset is linked with NHS Blood and Transplant, Public Health England, NHS Digital (Hospital Episode Statistics and Civil Registration Database) and NHS Wales Informatics Service (Patient Episode Database for Wales).
Centres connected to the UK Renal Data Collaboration (UKRDC) send daily electronic feeds. Other centres provide periodic returns. UKRR data managers work with centres to support submissions and resolve data queries.
Supporting national clinical audit
The UKRR uses clinical data to assess kidney care and outcomes across centres and against clinical standards. The completeness of the information submitted affects how these findings can be interpreted.
The data completeness portal shows the completeness of key information submitted by each centre. It helps kidney teams identify gaps in their submissions and understand the information underpinning national audit findings.