A Quality Improvement Process to Increase and Sustain a Peritoneal Dialysis Programme in the United Kingdom

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Peritoneal dialysis (PD) remains underutilised in the West. The proportion of patients in the UK starting renal replacement therapy (RRT) with PD fell from 7.2% in 2011 to 6.0% in 2016. At our centre, 8.4% of dialysis patients received PD in April 2014. Evidence suggests that home dialysis improves patient clinical outcomes; therefore, a target was agreed to achieve 25% of dialysis patients receiving PD by 2018. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A rapid improvement process was introduced, as a quality improvement tool, to increase and sustain the PD programme. With multidisciplinary team support for PD growth, a nephrologist was trained to insert PD catheters. Nurses were trained to provide patients with balanced pre-dialysis information and discuss alternative dialysis modalities with haemodialysis (HD) patients. The “Acceptance, Choice and Empowerment” project raised awareness of home therapy choices, using a peer educator model specifically for ethnic minority patients. Lean methodologies were used to ensure continuous quality improvement. <b><i>Results:</i></b> PD uptake increased from 37 to 84 patients, giving a PD penetration increase from 8.4% to 19.1% between April 2014 and March 2018. Catheter insertions increased from 94 at the end of QI Period 1 to 185 at the end of QI Period 2, representing a 97% increase, with the medical/surgical split remaining stable. Peritonitis rates remained stable, and PD drop off to HD reduced from 52% to 41% during the same period. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> By implementing a rapid improvement process and embedding a quality improvement programme, the number of incidents and prevalent PD patients increased and was sustained.