Quality improvement project led by Salford renal team to minimize COVID-19 infections in patients receiving Haemodialysis published
A quality improvement (QI) project aimed to eliminate outbreaks of COVID-19 in haemodialysis units, led by the North West KQuIP lead Dr Rosie Donne and colleagues, has been published this month.
The open access paper describes the impact of a multifaceted QI programme including a bundle of infection prevention control (IPC) measures across five in-centre Haemodialysis (ICHD) units following the first wave of the pandemic in June 2020.
Following the implementation of the QI project, there were no further outbreaks and interventions showed a significant reduction in COVID-19-related mortality and hospitalization.
Responding to the extraordinarily rapid change and adjustments required based on challenges and evolving knowledge about COVID-19, the team used rapid learning cycles to implement and maintain nationally recommended IPC protocols including the Recommendations for minimising the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in UK adult haemodialysis units published by KQuIP's COVID-19 HD Ensuring Patient Safety Work Stream.
