Save Your Vein is an awareness campaign to educate and empower renal patients and teach healthcare professionals the importance of vein preservation. If kidney failure patients have multiple blood tests from the veins that we need to make a fistula, it lessens the chance of creating a successful fistula for dialysis.
This campaign, founded by Consultant Transplant and Vascular surgeon, Mr Jeremy Crane and GP/Emergency Medicine registrar Dr Christine Hall, at the West London Renal and Transplant Centre in 2014, has been incredibly well received by patients and staff locally and we have now been given a generous grant from the British Kidney Patient Association to take it nationwide.
Patients
The ‘Save Your Vein’ campaign is simple and highly effective in increasing knowledge and awareness amongst patients and healthcare groups. We aim to increase knowledge and improve practice of vein preservation.
69%
of patients are unaware of vein preservation*
97%
of those aware of vein preservation do not practice it*
*From a study of 136 patients attending Low Clearance Clinic or undergoing haemodialysis
For healthcare professionals
99%
of healthcare staff are unaware of vein preservation*
*From a study of 80 staff doctors (n=40), nurses (n=10), medical students (n=22) and phlebotomists (n=8)
Kidney Care UK
Kidney Care UK are the UK’s leading kidney patient support charity, providing practical, financial and emotional support for kidney patients and their families and campaigning to improve care services across the UK. Every year they help thousands of patients and their families to tackle everyday life with kidney failure; providing kidney patients with the practical, emotional and financial help they need, when they need it.
As well as providing the direct patient help and support, Kidney Care UK also helps kidney patients by working hard to improve health and care services and campaigning for change. Their work funds better equipment, specialist staff and quality improvement projects. Their focus is on adding value by only investing in initiatives that fall outside of NHS funding and which make a practical difference to patients today.
Kidney Care UK are proud supporters of the Save Your Vein campaign.
