SEKPA
South Eastern Kidney Patients Association
SEKPA Activities
World Kidney Day Reception at the House of Commons
8th March 2023
On Wednesday the 8th March, a reception organised by the NKF was held at the House of Commons to make MPs aware of World Kidney Day and its message of "Kidney Health for All". Many posters advertised the fact that there are an estimated 3.5 milllion people in the UK who suffer from chronic kidney disease and of these, 1 million are undetected.
Invitations were sent to the Chairs of KPAs (Kidney Patient Associations). SEKPA was represented by its chairman.
It was held in the Terrace Pavillion of the Houses of Parliament which is on the terrace facing the Thames. Fortunately for a cold wet March Day, it was covered and heated!
Presentations were given on:
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Early Diagnosis
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Best practices in disease management and treatment
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Home-based dialysis
Presentations were given from the centre of the pavillion. As the pavillion is narrow, there was standing room only!
The early diagnosis methods recommended were the testing at home of urine and blood pressure for all patients with diabetes or high blood pressure.
This would cost money, but result in long-term savings. To convince MPs of this, they were offered BP testing and urine testing kits at the reception.
The picture shows an MP having his blood pressure taken.
To encourage participation in the event by MPs, the MP for the constituency where the chairman lives, Sir Peter Bottomley (West Worthing), was invited to attend.
He attended, as shown in the photo, but towards the end of the event, due to other commitments. Unfortunately the chairman had already left by then, so they were not able to meet in person. A report on the reception was nevertheless sent to Sir Peter.
SEKPA AGM
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"The SE Renal Network"
a talk by Dr. Sarah Lawman
Wednesday 19th April 2023
18.00 Boardroom, Audrey Emerton Building
Eastern Road, Brighton
(opposite the Royal Sussex County)
with refreshments
The AGM this year will be followed by a talk on the recently launched South East Renal Network given by Dr. Sarah Lawman, the Clinical Lead.
The SE Renal Network was launched at the end of 2022 and covers the south east of England, excluding London. It aims to:
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Facilitate communication between Renal Units
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Improve quality of care
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Share best practices
To find out what this will mean to both patients and clinical staff, come and hear Sarah Lawman on the 19th April.
As part of the increasing move to allow patients access to their medical data, Patient View is being integrated into Patients Know Best. This also includes the information previously held in My Health and Care Record.
Because Patients Know Best (PKB) holds far more information than Patient View, it has a less intuitive user interface. This is being upgraded to include some of the favourite features of Patient View.