The National Renal Office

The National Renal Office:

On World Kidney Day 2009, (12th of March) the HSE announced the establishment of a National Renal Office. The Office will provide Governance, Integration and Leadership in developing a National Framework for delivering Renal Services in Ireland.

The Office is responsible for planning, co-ordinating and managing the strategic context of Renal Services across the country. The Office will facilitate an immediate integrated focus on a number of priority areas of concern.

The National Renal Office is located within the National Directorate for Quality and Clinical Care. The Office liaises with each of the Regional Directors of Operations to ensure continuity is provided during the organisational restructuring and to retain a focus on the current reconfiguration of dialysis services. The composition and reporting relationships of the NRO will be reviewed in the light of the emerging integrated organisational structure of the HSE and the development of a national strategic framework for Renal Services.

The Strategic Vision for Renal Services in Ireland

The patient is central to Renal Services design and delivery. The patient should be fully informed on treatment options and prognosis of kidney disease.
Services are provided to populations at local level, consistent with safe and effective care and practice.
Networks of appropriately designed and maintained Renal Units, with adequate inpatient, outpatient, laboratory and radiology facilities, are provided to support patient care in a manner fully integrated with Primary Care and other Community Services.
Access is available to the most modern diagnostic and treatment equipment.
Effective governance arrangements exist to ensure that Renal Services are delivered to nationally defined standards.

Remit and Scope of the National Renal Office

The remit and scope of the NRO includes:

Providing Governance, Integration and Leadership in developing a National Framework for delivering Renal Services.
The implementation of a National Renal Strategy
Developing a Governance Model for Renal Services delivery
Informing the service planning process and making recommendations on the future funding allocation process based on clinical need and ongoing collection of epidemiological, practice and outcome data.
Identifying the aspects/areas of service which require priority support, on a national scale cascading downwards to HSE Areas.
Liaising with primary care/community providers in the diagnosis and ongoing management of those with kidney disease in the community.
Managing and monitoring use of development funding in line with agreed national principles.
Lead on discussions, negotiations, tendering and management of renal contracts with the private sector
Acting as a point of central contact to facilitate resolution of major small-area variations in funding, administrative or clinical practices.
Liaising with individual Networks and Renal Units (including Paediatric Renal Units and the National Renal Transplant Unit)
Overseeing the work of relevant specific project teams needed to establish a National Renal Registry and developing the IT needs of Renal Services.
Fostering the inter-disciplinary links developed between stakeholders established by NRSR.
Defining Standards and introducing a Performance Management Matrix for those Renal Services commissioned in partnership with private sector providers.
Liaise with HIQA and other relevant bodies in the development of standards for renal care
Liaising with advocacy and patient representative groups.
Preparing regular updates for the NHO/HSE Executive meetings, DOHC briefing and Senior Management reports
Producing an Annual Report

The primary role of the National Renal Office is in governance, planning and strategic development. Network Managers/Regional Directors of Operations and local Renal Units will continue to maintain operational responsibility for the delivery of Renal Services within their region especially as they relate to the care of individual patients.

NRO Priorities

The immediate priorities for the National Renal Office are:

Expansion of renal capacity to accommodate growth in demand
Provision of services closer to patients homes
Improvement in patient centred care
Expansion of renal transplantation

Renal service expansion and development will be based on clinical need, in line with priorities identified by the National Renal Office and will encompass the key considerations of: Capacity, Configuration & Governance.

National Clinical Director

Dr. Liam Plant, Consultant Renal Physician from Cork University Hospital has been appointed the National Clinical Director of the National Renal Office.

The Office will be supported with input from those with key competencies in clinical, business and organisational support which will provide dedicated input into the planning and operational aspects of this Office.

News & Updates:

The HSE/NRO is delighted to announce the awarding of the National Kidney Disease Clinical Patient Management System (KDCPMS) to Mediqal Health Informatics Limited.

The implementation of this standardised National Clinical Patient Management System will facilitate the clinical management of all patients with kidney disease, from first presentation to a renal centre right through to renal replacement therapy.

The system will provide a framework for performance monitoring in renal care provision, comparative clinical audit, enhanced delivery and quality of care, strategic planning and effective resource utilization.

Additional information including plans for the national roll out can be downloaded from the link below.

KDCPMS Newsletter August 2010.pdf (size 79 KB)

The HSE has recently updated the National Guidelines for the Prevention of Transmission of Blood Borne Viral Illnesses. This report can be downloded from the attached link.

Renal Blood Borne Viral Disease Guidelines 2010

We have recently updated the website with the results of the annual ESKD census taken in December 2009. Thanks to all those who completed the forms. The report 'Epidemiology of ESKD in Adults in Ireland 2009' can be downloaded from the attached link.

Epidemiology of ESKD in Adults in Ireland 2009

The NRO provided an overview of Renal Services in Ireland for the HSE Performance Report - September 2009. This can be downloaded from the link below.

Overview of Renal Services in Ireland - September 2009

Links to Related Agencies

Irish Kidney Association: www.ika.ie

Irish Nephrology Society: www.nephrology.ie

Irish Nephrology Nurses Association www.inna-ireland.com

Dept. Of Health & Children: www.doh.ie

Renal Association UK: www.renal.org

National Renal Office

Room 150, Dr. Stevens’ Hospital,

Dublin 8.

Email: nro@hse.ie

Last updated on: 01 / 09 / 2010