Three UK healthcare partnerships have teamed up to help improve outcomes for advanced stage kidney patients through the early identification and provision of appropriate choice, care planning and palliative care.

Together the three partners (Greater Manchester Kidney Care Network; King’s Health Partners; North Bristol Health Economy) selected by NHS Kidney Care, will develop and implement recommendations made in the End of Life Care in Advanced Kidney Disease: a Framework for Implementation.

NHS Kidney Care Director Beverley Matthews, said: “We worked with our partners to develop the End of Life in Advanced Kidney Disease Framework in June 2009, which was a major milestone. It was the first time a strategy for delivering end of life care specifically for kidney patients had been clearly laid out.

“This has always been the next part of the plan – to put in place the practices outlined in the framework. The three specialist partnerships working with us will now be able to dedicate time and resources to develop proper structures and procedures to implement the framework’s recommendations. Once embedded, these practices can be rolled out across renal units in England, helping service providers deliver better quality care according to the QIPP agenda.”

All project groups are concentrating on the six steps of the end of life care pathway for kidney services described in the framework.