Establishing a supportive care register improves end-of-life care for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease

Harrison, J. K. , Clipsham, L. E., Cooke, C. M., Warwick, G. and Burton, J. O. (2015) Establishing a supportive care register improves end-of-life care for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. Nephron, 129(3), pp. 209-213. (doi: 10.1159/000371888) (PMID:2572171)

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Abstract

Background: End-of-life care for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) is recognised as an important area for improvement. These patients have a significant mortality and, although some is unpredictable, there is a role for the nephrology multi-disciplinary team (MDT) and palliative care physicians to engage in advance care planning and support patients to discuss their preferences. Methods: Retrospective and prospective data were obtained to conduct a comparison observational study to assess the impact of introducing a supportive care register on the end-of-life care for patients with advanced CKD. An electronic supportive care register was implemented. This required a programme of multi-disciplinary staff education, collaborative working with Palliative Care to establish renal-specific protocols and dissemination activities. The impact of the intervention was assessed by analysing all deaths in two six-month periods where all those with an eGFR <15 ml/min/1.73 m2 at the time of their death were included. Results: A total of 91 patients were included. Post-intervention, there was a 25.4% (95% CI: 6.5-44.3%, p = 0.008) improvement in patients having a documented discussion about end-of-life planning. There was also a 19.7% (95% CI: 4.0-35.5%, p = 0.01) improvement in establishing the place of death. All patients who expressed a preferred place of death died there. The intervention increased engagement with the wider MDT and led to significant improvements in access to specialist palliative care services. Conclusions: These results show that the interventions implemented to introduce a supportive care register resulted in meaningful improvements to the end-of-life care for patients in our region with advanced CKD.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Burton, Dr Jenni
Authors: Harrison, J. K., Clipsham, L. E., Cooke, C. M., Warwick, G., and Burton, J. O.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health
Journal Name:Nephron
Publisher:Karger
ISSN:1660-8151
ISSN (Online):2235-3186

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