The National Renal Office (NRO) was established in 2009 to provide Governance, Integration and Leadership in developing a National Framework for delivering Renal Services in Ireland.

The National Renal Office is responsible for planning, co-ordinating and managing the strategic development of Renal Services across the country. The NRO will inform the service planning process and the decision making process regarding allocation of resources for Renal Services and facilitate an integrated focus on priority of areas of concern in relation to Renal Services.

The National Renal Office is now embedded within Clinical Design and Innovation and links with the Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital Groups as well as the Integrated Services Directorates.

The primary role of the National Renal Office is in governance, planning and strategic development.  The Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital Groups and Parent Renal Units will continue to maintain operational responsibility for the delivery of Renal Services within their Hospital Groups especially as they relate to the care of individual patients.

The Aims of the National Renal Office

• To continue the development of patient-centred Renal Services.
• To provide services to populations at local level, consistent with safe and effective care and practice.
• To develop networks of appropriately designed and maintained hospitals/dialysis facilities, with adequate inpatient, outpatient, laboratory and radiology facilities, supporting patient care in a fully integrated manner.
• To ensure access to the most modern diagnostic and therapeutic equipment.
• To establish and maintain effective governance models to ensure that Renal Services are delivered to nationally defined standards.

National Renal Office Priorities

The immediate priorities for the National Renal Office are:

• Expansion of renal transplantation activity
• Expansion of dialysis capacity to accommodate growth in demand
• Provision of services closer to patient’s homes
• Improvement in patient centred care

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 and governance. 

The Scope of the NRO includes:

• The Scope of the NRO includes:National Renal Strategy - Implementation of a National Renal Strategy supported by operational plans and other Renal Health Intelligence.
• Governance – Providing Standards of Care & Operational Policies supported by Process and Outcome Metrics and Key Performance Indicators.
• Renal Health Intelligence – Kidney Disease Clinical Patient Management System (KDCPMS).
• Planning – Informing the service planning process and making recommendations on future national renal priorities based on clinical need and ongoing collection of epidemiological practice and outcome data.
• Procurement – Lead on discussions, inform and liaise with HSE Procurement on negotiations, tendering and on the management of renal contract decisions.
• Liaison with individual networks and Renal Units, including Paediatric Renal Units, and the National Transplant Office.
• Liaison with advocacy and patient representative groups.
• Foster integration of Renal Services with other Acute and Community Chronic Disease management Programmes, especially the Acute Medicine Programme.

Kidney disease and COVID-19

The National Renal Office have provided patient orientated medical information relevant for renal patients on COVID 19 (Coronavirus)  on the following link - https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/kidney-disease-and-covid-19.html