Transform AKC
Improving advanced kidney care for people approaching kidney failure
Transform AKC is a three-year partnership between Kidney Care UK and the UK Kidney Association, working to improve care and outcomes for people with advanced kidney disease.
The project focuses on the period leading up to kidney failure and kidney replacement therapy, as well as people choosing conservative kidney management, to develop a more holistic and consistent approach to advanced kidney care.
Why do we need to transform advanced kidney care?
Advanced kidney care is a pivotal stage for people approaching kidney failure, involving complex decisions about treatment alongside changing physical, psychological and practical needs.
There is considerable variation in how this care is delivered across the UK, including differences in models of care, team composition, training and expertise. The Transform AKC project is bringing together lived experience and professional expertise to understand these gaps and develop practical approaches to improving care.
• Improve equity of access for all patients to the highest quality AKC service through systemic and sustainable change.
Transform AKC is working in partnership with the advanced kidney care expert practitioner community to design and pilot an improved model of care and support its wider adoption across the UK.
The programme aims to:
- define the elements of high-quality advanced kidney care and identify unmet need from patient and staff perspectives
- co-design an advanced kidney care change package and toolkit
- support participating kidney units to test and improve the change package using quality improvement methodology
- refine the toolkit based on learning from the pilot centres
- support wider adoption of the approaches developed through the programme
A three-year programme
2024 – 2025
The first year focused on understanding what good advanced kidney care looks like and where there are barriers or variation in current practice.
This included gathering insight from people with lived experience and healthcare professionals, reviewing existing evidence and recruiting five kidney centres to take part in the TransformAKC quality improvement programme.
2025 – 2026
Five pilot centres are carrying out local quality improvement projects addressing different aspects of advanced kidney care. Their work is helping to test approaches in practice and develop the components of a national TransformAKC change package and toolkit.
2026 – 2027
Learning from the pilot projects will be used to refine the Transform AKC change package and support its wider use. The programme will also focus on staff training and recommendations to support the delivery and commissioning of advanced kidney care.
Transform AKC Team
Transform AKC is a partnership between Kidney Care UK and the UK Kidney Association, through the Kidney Quality Improvement Partnership (KQIP).
The project is funded with Kidney Care UK – supporting project management, clinical leadership, project events and quality improvement training for participating kidney centres.
Rosie Donne,
KQIP Clinical Co-Lead,
Consultant Nephrologist, Salford
Kidney Quality Improvement Partnership (KQIP)
Kidney Quality Improvement Partnership (KQIP)