Improving acute cardiac care of patients with renal disease through linkage of national audits in the UK London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

National audits significantly advance knowledge of how variations in clinical care impact patient outcomes across the NHS. However, they are often restricted by an organ-specific focus, despite many patients having conditions that affect more than one organ.

Heart and kidney diseases are known to interact on multiple levels. People with reduced kidney function are at a high risk of heart attacks, but can develop acute kidney injury as a side effect of the dye that is injected during heart investigations. Evidence shows that these patients are therefore less likely to receive the potentially life-saving cardiology care they need.

This project led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine aims to provide information on how to improve acute cardiology care for people with reduced kidney function by investigating national variations in how different cardiology centres manage patients.

Data from acute cardiology care, hospitalisations and deaths held at the National Institute of Cardiac Outcomes Research (NICOR) will be linked to data on acute kidney injury and dialysis held at the UK Renal Registry (UKRR) to create the largest cardio-renal national data resource to date.

Analyses using the linked data will quantify the patient benefit and overall cost of managing patients with reduced kidney function at admission differently. Key project outputs will be disseminated by opinion leaders in the cardio-renal community and through ‘plain English’ summaries drafted by patient representatives.

This project has the potential to improve health care and outcomes for patients with heart and kidney disease by highlighting areas of clinical need, investigating divergence from clinical evidence and guidelines, and identifying the benefits of changing practice.

Contact details

For more information about this project, please contact Dorothea Nitsch, Professor of Epidemiology and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.