A new study conducted for the National Health Service Improving Quality division found that of the patients who get admitted to UK hospitals per year, between 15,000 and 40,000 develop and die from acute kidney injury.
Acute kidney injury, or AKI, happens when a person's kidneys suddenly stop functioning properly. The condition can develop in people who already have existing health problems, such as those with diabetes and heart failure. AKI is also called "the silent killer" because it is often undetected and medical staffs tend to overlook it because of the patient's other existing illnesses.
What made the findings of the study appalling is that AKI is an avoidable kidney problem and poor hospital care is largely blamed for at least 1,000 patients who die needlessly from it per month. The causes of AKI vary, but it commonly develops because of severe dehydration. The condition may also develop after a patient undergoes major surgery. AKI, for instance, commonly affects patients who undergo cardiac surgery.
The report says that AKI occurs in UK hospitals five times more than what was previously believed as the condition causes over 30 deaths per day, more than the fatality rate of MRSA, which only caused four fatalities per day at its peak.
AKI does not only cause unnecessary deaths, but also costs the NHS more than £1 billion per year to treat, which is more than the combined amount it spends on bowel, lung and breast cancer. Study researcher Donal O'Donoghue, from the Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, said that providing good basic care could help prevent AKI-related deaths.
"Doctors and nurses need to make elementary checks to prevent AKI," O'Donoghue said, adding that patients undergoing surgery should not be deprived of water for more than two hours. "Sometimes that is unavoidable but then medical staff need to check their patients are not becoming dehydrated. They also need to be aware that some common medications increase the risk of AKI."
Marion Kerr, from Insight Health Economics also concurred, saying that simply improving basic care could save many lives and save the NHS £200 million pounds annually.
