You, your kidneys and keeping well with your medication

To celebrate World Kidney Day 2021 on Thursday 11 March, Kidney Wales hosted a free virtual education event to explain the ‘must know’ information for every kidney patient, family member or carer.

The session was led by Susan Spence, Manager of the Welsh Renal Clinical Network, and the Renal Medicines Team from Morriston Hospital.  It covered:

• What your kidneys do and how to protect them;
• The stages of kidney disease
• Treatment options
• Kidney medications
• The role of PatientView

The team explained that there are over 93,000 people with kidney disease living in Wales, yet only a small percentage will go on to develop renal failure.

At present there are 3316 patients in Wales who need Renal Replacement Therapy: 1811 transplant patients, 299 people who dialyse at home and 1206 patients who receive dialysis in a unit.  The Welsh Renal Clinical Network commissions services to care for these patients, and the Renal Medicines team are responsible for managing the complex prescriptions for each and every patient.

Judith Stone, Managing Director of Kidney Wales said: “Conversations between patients and our kidney care teams are usually about what’s happening to our bodies here and now.  This webinar provided an overview of the stages of disease and the treatment options at each stage. It also explained key terms and promoted Patient View, a digital record of your test results.  Patient View can help you to keep track of your health condition, learn about what each test result means and understand more about the medications you are taking”.

You can watch the webinar ‘You, your kidneys and keeping well with your medication’ here: You, Your Kidneys and Keeping Well with Your Medication

“It was really interesting and very informative , there were a few things that expanded my knowledge within this area and will help my client at present and others in the future.”