The latest in a series of good practice commissioning guides has been published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to support commissioners in designing services to improve outcomes for patients and to help the NHS make better use of its resources.
The commissioning guide on early identification and management of chronic kidney disease in adults draws on the NICE clinical guideline on the early identification and management of chronic kidney disease in adults in primary and secondary care and the recent NICE quality standard on chronic kidney disease in adults. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is frequently unrecognised and often exists with other conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. There is evidence that treatment can prevent or delay the progression of CKD, reduce or prevent the development of complications and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Early detection is considered to be cost-effective in both financial and human terms. However, because of a lack of symptoms CKD sufferers are often not diagnosed, or are diagnosed only when CKD is at an advanced stage. Commenting on the new guidance, Dr Paul Stevens, consultant nephrologist and associate medical director at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, chair of the Topic Expert Group for the NICE quality standard on chronic kidney disease in adults and member of the Guideline Development Group for the NICE chronic kidney disease clinical guideline, said: “The importance of prevention and early diagnosis of CKD cannot be underestimated. Earlier identification and, where possible, prevention of complications associated with CKD and prevention of disease progression are clearly needed. The purpose of the guide is to ensure that high quality services are commissioned, not just to improve outcomes for people with CKD, but also to enable commissioners to release resources or generate savings through service redesign and by identifying treatments and interventions that do not add value”. While the commissioning guide draws on existing NICE recommendations, it does not constitute formal NICE guidance and is intended as a tool to help the NHS improve patient care through effective commissioning of services.
