Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the rate of early diagnosis of chronic kidney disease.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance Chronic kidney disease: Assessment and management [NG203], updated in November 2021, sets out best practice for clinicians in the diagnosis and management of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The guidance covers: monitoring for those patients at risk; pharmacological management; and referral where appropriate. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng203

In addition to evidence-based guidance to support clinicians to diagnose problems of the kidney, we are also working to detect people at risk of kidney disease through the NHS Health Check Programme. The programme, which is available for everyone between the ages of 40 and 74 years old who are not already on a chronic disease register, assesses people’s health and risk of developing certain health problems. Using this information, patients are supported to make behavioural changes and access treatment which helps to prevent and detect kidney disease earlier.

We are investing in new delivery models for the NHS Health Check, including nearly £17 million for the development and roll-out of an innovative new national digital NHS Health Check available this spring, and will give people a choice about where and when to have a check.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) reviewed CKD and glomerulonephritis in 2011, concluding that a population-wide screening programme would not be recommended, and has not recently looked at the evidence for a targeted programme. The UK NSC can be alerted to any new peer-reviewed evidence published which may support the case for a new screening programme. Proposals to change or review a topic early can be submitted via the UK NSC’s annual call, which will open in July 2024. At present, there are no plans to expand national services in community pharmacy beyond the recently introduced Pharmacy First service.