Managers and staff from care homes across south west London joined hospital consultants, nurses and pharmacists at a unique kidney care event – designed to share insight for better resident health and fewer hospital admissions.
Feedback from care homes taking part was extremely positive, with the event described as “exceptional”, “spectacular”, “super helpful” and “a fantastic opportunity to improve our knowledge”. Many attendees called for more opportunities like this – with one suggesting such training could be mandatory.
Lilian Li, medicines optimisation pharmacist for NHS South West London, explained what the event was all about. “We’re here to try to help our care home colleagues give the best care to our residents, as a team,” she said. “By bringing everyone together so we can focus on improving kidney care and maintaining healthy hearts.”
Professor Debasish Banerjee (below), kidney consultant at St George’s Hospital, gave an insight into these hard-working organs which weigh less than 150g but control blood pressure and fluid levels throughout the body – and whose failure can lead to heart attacks, strokes and anaemia.
Through case studies and interactive sessions, he explained how to spot chronic kidney disease, how it is diagnosed and how to control its progression.
Kidney disease is closely linked to conditions affecting other vital organs. St George’s cardiac consultant Dr Lisa Anderson talked about heart failure, which affects more than one in seven people aged over 85 and is a major cause of hospital admission. With an ageing population likely to mean more people with heart failure than ever, she gave practical advice around identifying symptoms and basic management in care homes.
By reaching out to care homes we can look after people very well in the community”
Dr Mimi Chen, diabetes consultant at St George’s hospital (below with Dr Vasa Gnanapragasm) talked about how collaboration across specialties improves care for people with the conditions.
She explained why it was important to her to attend the event: “I’ve come to share some ideas on how we can take a more joined-up, holistic approach to caring for people with diabetes and keeping their kidneys healthy. I’m also here to learn – to understand what makes diabetes care in care homes unique, and how we can better support staff and teams going forward.”
Dr Vasa Gnanapragasm, Merton GP and south west London clinical co lead for urology, talked about issues including catheter care and spotting the signs of kidney stones. “So much can be done in the care home, with support from the heart failure nurse or the diabetes nurse or the heart consultant,” he said. “By reaching out to care homes we can look after people very well in the community.”
We’re here to try to help our care home colleagues give the best care to our residents, as a team”
Charlotte Trumper (below), led NHS South West London’s successful hydration project #ButFirstADrink, which has seen a 67% reduction in urinary tract infections in the homes taking part. She talked about the project as well as spotting the signs of dehydration and its causes. She also talked about acute kidney injury –where the kidneys suddenly stop working properly.
The event was organised by NHS South West London’s care homes team which works with homes across the six boroughs, establishing relationships with staff and managers and helping homes introduce clinical and digital innovations to improve resident care.
