Results of the final Workshop

On the 3rd February 2016, a group of 20 kidney transplant recipients, donors and professionals took part in a consensus workshop at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, in London. The group considered the top 25 ranked treatment uncertainties from the PSP prioritisation survey, and after much lively debate agreed a top ten list of priorities for the future of research in kidney transplantation.

The top ten priorities agreed by the group were as follows:

  • What is the best way to treat vascular or antibody-mediated acute rejection?
  • How can immunosuppression be personalised to the individual patients to improve the results of transplantation?
  • How can we prevent sensitisation in patients with a failing transplant, to improve their chances of another successful transplant (e.g. removal of the transplant, withdrawal of immunosuppressive medicines or continuation of these medicines?)
  • Can we improve monitoring of the level of immunosuppression to achieve better balance between risk of rejection and side effects? (e.g. T-cell or B-cell ELISPOT, point-of-care tacrolimus monitoring, MMF monitoring)
  • How can we improve transplant rates in highly sensitised patients?
  • What are the long-term health risks to the living kidney donor?
  • How can we encourage tolerance to the transplant to prevent or reduce the need for immunosuppression? (e.g. by use of T-regulatory cells, induction of haemoxygenase 1)
  • What is the best combination of immunosuppressive drugs following kidney transplantation? (e.g. azathioprine or mycophenolate, belatacept, generic or proprietary (brand-name) drugs)
  • What techniques to preserve, condition and transport the kidney before transplantation allow increased preservation times and/or improve results? (e.g. machine perfusion, normothermic reconditioning, addition of agents to the perfusate)
  • Can bioengineered organs be developed to be as safe as human-to-human transplants? How can this be achieved?

We would like to extend a big thank-you to all those who took part in the PSP process, including the steering group, all those who responded to the surveys and the group who attended the final workshop including Karen Casey, Rebecca Farwell, Sue Lyon, Nick Palmer, Alistair Reid, Tracey Rose, Chris Walton, David Wilson, Lisa Wynn, Rasheed Ahmad, Pippa Bailey, Chris Ide, Steven Sachs, Bynvant Sandhu and Michelle Willicombe.

Join us for our final workshop on Feb 3rd, 2016

The Kidney Transplant PSP prioritisation survey has now closed, and we would like to thank the 250+ people who took the time to respond. We are now collating the results in preparation for our final workshop, which will be held at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in London on Wednesday 3rd February 2016.

The workshop will run from 9am to 4pm, during which we will agree a final top 10 priorities for future research. We are looking for around 30 enthusiastic professionals (surgeons, nephrologists, nurses, pharmacists etc.), patients (including donors) and carers to take part in the workshop. Travel expenses will be reimbursed, and refreshments provided on the day.

If you are interested in taking part, please contact us at kidney@transplantpsp.org.

Prioritisation survey is still open – let us know your views

The prioritisation survey has been open for around a month now, and we have so far received nearly 200 responses.  There is still plenty of time for you to have your say – we are especially keen to hear from more transplant patients, carers, live donors and patients on the transplant waiting list.  We also welcome responses from healthcare professionals from all disciplines involved in kidney transplantation, including nephrologists, surgeons, clinical scientists, pharmacists, dieticians, nurses and technicians.

To take the survey online, click here.

The steering committee would like to thank all of those who have responded so far.

Prioritisation survey now open!

We are pleased to announce that the Kidney Transplant PSP Prioritisation survey opens today.

This survey asks patients, carers and healthcare professionals to rate the importance of the unanswered questions that we have identified in the area of kidney transplantation. We will use your responses during a final priority setting workshop to be held in January 2016.

Take the survey now.

The survey will take around 10 minutes to complete. Please share it with friends and colleagues – we are very keen for the views of as many people as possible to be represented.

ESPRIT Group signed up as a partner

ESPRIT logoWe are pleased to announce that the Efficacy and Safety of Prescribing in Transplantation (ESPRIT) group have signed up as a partner to the Kidney Transplant PSP. The group comprises of transplantation clinicians, pharmacists, and primary care representatives with a common commitment to ensure the continued, effective and safe treatment of patients through education of healthcare professionals and patients.

Survey launch date moved to 9th October

The launch date for the Kidney Transplant PSP prioritisation survey has moved to the 9th October, to coincide with the start of the National Kidney Federation patient’s conference. The conference will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Reading from the 9th-11th October, and provides the ideal opportunity to launch the survey and get the opinions of as many patients as possible in the prioritisation exercise.

Prioritisation survey to open on the 19th October

We would like to thank everyone who responded to our first survey – we received over 180 responses and have gathered nearly 500 treatment uncertainties. We have now worked through these, and identified those that have not been answered by existing research.

The next step is to ask you to help us to prioritise the remaining uncertainties for future research. As before, we would like the views of patients, carers and healthcare professionals to ensure that the final list represents all those affected by kidney transplantation.

The survey will launch on the 19th October, and we be accessible through this website. To register your interest for a reminder nearer the time, visit our homepage and click the “register your interest” button at the top right of the page.

Second Steering Group Meeting Held on 30th March

The second Kidney Transplant PSP steering group meeting was held at the Royal College of Surgeons in London on the 30th March. The first survey was summarised – we received 498 uncertainties from 183 respondents, with an excellent mix of backgrounds (patient, carer and professional) and topics covering over 50 categories.

The steering group ran through the uncertainties submitted from the first survey and narrowed them down to 97 indicative uncertainties. Over the coming months, we will be working hard to identify existing evidence and develop a process for prioritisation.

The steering group would like to thank everyone who took part in the first survey. The strength of the PSP process is in getting input from as many patients, carers and professionals as possible to ensure that the final result represents your views.

First survey – deadline extended to 15th December

So far we have received over 175 responses and 350 uncertainties from our first survey – thank you to all that have responded!

As it has only just reached some of the national patient magazines, we have decided to keep the survey open longer than originally planned to give everyone the chance to get involved. The deadline has now been extended to 15th December 2014, so visit the survey page now to ask your questions for kidney transplant research.