About London Kidney Network

About LKN | Facts and Figures | How We Work | Our Principles | London Kidney Network Structure | Working in the LKN | Key Milestones

About LKN

The LKN was set up in June 2021 and brings together anyone affected by kidney disease to:
    • improvement experience
    • improve outcomes
    • promote and establish cost-effective service models

The LKN works with expert doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, as well as GPs, commissioners and public health experts.  We work collaboratively to identify what good looks like and to help services make changes to meet that vision.

The starting point for ‘what good looks like‘ are the Renal Service transformation Programme (RSPT) and renal GIRFT (Getting It Right First Time).  We have looked careful at the recommendations.  The priorities in these reports form the basis of our workplan in the lKN. 

Renal Networks (there are 8 in England) were set up to deliver the recommendations of GIRFT and RSTP and sit under the remit of the Transform CRG in the Internal Medicine National Programme of Care of NHS England.

The LKN:
    • is inclusive
    • puts patient involvement and partnership at the centre of our work
    • seeks to improve equity and reduce inequalities at all levels
London Kidney Network seeks to improve population health through:
    • Improving quality and outcomes
    • Better health equity and patient experience
    • Addressing value and cost effectiveness

London and Surrey kidney facts and figures

Six Integrated Care Systems

    • North-East London Health and Care Partnership
    • North Central London Partners in Health and Care
    • North-West London Health and Care Partnership
    • Our Healthier South-East London
    • South-West London Health and Care Partnership
    • Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership

Seven Renal Units

    • Barts Health NHS Trust
    • Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
    • Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
    • Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust
    • St Georges University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
    • Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
    • Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

Providing kidney services across 32 London Boroughs & Surrey

There are

people in London living with Chronic Kidney Disease

London has around 15k prevalent renal replacement therapy patients.

  • 6.5k people are on haemodialysis
  • 15.2k people have end-stage kidney failure
  • 8.7k people have had a kidney transplant

Data from the UKKA Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) Survey shows patient experience is poorer in London in key metrics, such as shared decision making.

London and Surrey’s
renal units provide care to
26%
of Englands
in-centre
haemodialysis
patients

The seven adult renal centres deliver dialysis in over 45 units, delivering care to around 5,800 in-centre haemodialysis patients.

At the current rate of dialysis growth, London could have an extra 700 dialysis patients in 10 years’ time.

This would require additional capacity equivalent to Kings to accommodate.

Learn more about our data

How we work

We bring clinical leaders from across London together to lead change. Workstreams and Expert Advisory Groups lead and support improvements in specific parts of the kidney pathway. 

We hold monthly Leadership Fora which provide an opportunity to share and learn  from local and national experts sharing examples of work to improve kidney care.

Our Management Team provides internal governance and accountability to the workstreams and EAGs.  We work with Operations Leads, Primary Care Clinical Leads and the Clinical Leads through a variety of other fora.

Our Board provides oversight, with representation from all ICSs, member Trusts, GP leaders, NHSE and patient representatives. It is accountable to NHSE in London.

Our principles

Our principles were developed at a workshop with a wide group of stakeholders in November 2022. We work hard every day to put our principles into practise.

Our principles are:

  1. Improvement in patient outcomes and experience over all
  2. Relationships and collaboration over silos and isolation
  3. Purposeful innovation and improvement over status quo
  4. Diversity, equity and inclusion over ease and familiarity
  5. Sustainability and resilience over short term wins
  6. Flexibility and responsiveness over fixed, rigid mindset
  7. Transparency over comfort

London Kidney Network Structure

The Board

  • Membership from ICSs, Trusts, Primary Care, NHSE Spec Comm and patients
  • Accountable to NHSE London and national CRG (ICB Joint Committee tbc)

The Management Team

  • Support development of the LKN in line with the agreed principles
  • Assure delivery of objectives to achieve sustainable transformation of kidney care in London and Surrey.

The Clinical Workstreams:

  • Multidisciplinary teams
  • Work together to improve patient outcomes and experience
  • Lead the implementation of GRIFT recommendations
  • Deliver CRG/RSTP plans
  • Underpinned by a QI methodology

The Expert Advisory Groups

  • Provide insight, advice, and challenge to the workstreams
  • Provide a unified expert resource for all network partners, including commissioners and ICS teams
  • Enable the LKN to demonstrate impact
  • Enable measurement for improvement

To Learn more about the LKN you can read our latest annual report.