Gambro Bursary open to new applications With the next committee meeting in November, now is the time to submit applications to the Gambro Bursary. The Bursary is there to support individuals and organisations for the advancement of renal education and practice. Recent financial awards have been made for a variety of activities, from sponsorship of a British Kidney Patient Association gala dinner for National Transplant Week to travel grants for individuals wishing to attend various conferences and seminars. Renal healthcare professionals who are working in a renal speciality are invited to submit an application for any of the following activities/ projects: • Special initiative project. • Special interest workshop. • Research project. • Travel grant. • Conference attendance. The grants are awarded twice yearly so it is obviously important that you submit an application soon so that it can be considered at November's meeting. Please visit www. gambro. co. uk to download the Bursary rules and application form, or contact Julie Barclay 01480 444045 julie. barclay@ gambro. com Bursary I've always thought that one of the best ways to make service improvements that are truly beneficial to the patient is to ask the opinions of the patients themselves. This is what The NHS Information Centre is doing with the new National Kidney Care Audit. Commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership ( HQIP), the audit focuses on two main areas that will make a big difference to kidney patients: patient transport and vascular access. To gather information on the first of these areas, everyone receiving hospital or satellite based haemodialysis in England is able to take part in the first national patient transport survey. The audit is taking place at about the same time this edition of Highlights is being published, with patients being given a questionnaire at their dialysis session on 15 or 16 October. The questionnaire asks about their experiences of travelling to and from their place of care. I hope similar exercises will be conducted in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland so we can get a full UK picture. Patients will be able to see the benefits of the audit as the results will identify how services can be improved and spread good practice. I expect that with commissioners and providers working together, each local service will draw up their own action plan for improvements in 2009. The audit focuses on transport services because I know how important it is to overall patient experience. This is a great opportunity for patients to get involved, and I hope that everyone will take part. National Kidney Care Audit will lead to improved care for patients Expert view 6 BiCart ® - uninterrupted dialysis Bicart is an essential component of a system designed for ultra pure dialysis fluid to avoid treatment related inflammation. Our range of dry- concentrate cartridges, available in both 720g and 1150g, eliminate the risk of contamination and bacterial growth, meeting all your patients' needs. Gambro understands that many BiCartcartridges run out during treatment which is disruptive and inconvenient to both nurses and the patient. With this in mind, Gambro developed an 1150g cartridge, which is particularly useful where higher flow rates are used, allowing uninterrupted high- flux HD and HDF therapy. Furthermore, we also provide two end caps with our products which can be stored on the hubs located on the top of the cartridges. These caps can then be added at each end of the cartridge when treatment is completed to prevent the continual problem of dripping, reducing waste and potential safety hazards.

New numbers make it easier to reach the right person Every company needs to ensure its customers can contact the people they need. At Gambro two new contact points have recently been added to our infrastructure with this in mind. Our two new contact points are: New Home Care free phone number: 0800 652 1378 Our Home Care team has introduced three new ways to make it even easier for patients and customers to contact them. As well as the above phone number you can contact them by fax 0800 652 1386or by email homecareuk@ gambro. com New free phone number for customer issues: 0800 652 1380 Our Customer Services team is now the central contact point for any customer issues, ensuring we can resolve situations in the shortest time possible. The same number will also bring you the other support offered by the team. In addition, our existing phone support remains: Prisma/ Prismaflex24hr helpline: 01480 414243 The helpline for all our Prisma and Prismaflexcustomers covers all aspects of troubleshooting, advice surrounding therapy the machines provide, as well as hiring additional machines. If the on- call Territory Manager can't take your call right away, please leave a message detailing the assistance you require, your name and most importantly your telephone number so that they can return your call. If you need more helpline stickers for your machines contact your Territory Manager. Technical support: 01480 444056 Our Technical Services team is available to complement the support available on our website. The line operates during normal business hours and our engineers can also be contacted by email techsupportuk@ gambro. com For all other services, you can of course call our UK Head Office01480 444000. The NHS Information Centre has been busy contacting all renal units, explaining what they need to do to take part and recruiting audit champions in each location. These audit champions are able to help patients fill in the survey, and answer any questions they might have. A separate online questionnaire is also being sent to all renal units and commissioners of both renal and patient transport services to make sure that we get a comprehensive view. The audit builds on excellent local pieces of work such the Department of Health Renal Advisory Group's Transport Action Learning Sets in Cheshire and Mersey and in Durham, the Pan Thames project and the Northern Ireland Transport programme. Getting a detailed picture of vascular access The National Kidney Care Audit will also measure aspects of vascular access for haemodialysis patients. By finding out what proportion of patients start dialysis with functioning permanent access, and how infection rates compare, the audit will help drive up standards of care for patients. This will be measured through linking data from the UK Renal Registry, the NHS Information Centre and the Health Protection Agency. The NHS Information Centre will provide analysis and reports to identify how each renal unit is performing. This will help us to share what works well, with the aim of safer patient care, better experience of care and better outcomes; measured by fewer complications and shorter hospital stays. The National Kidney Care Audit has the potential to achieve significant improvements for our patients. I hope that all renal units will get behind it and take part. For more information about the National Kidney Care Audit, please email the project team at kidneycare@ ic. nhs. ukor go to www. ic. nhs. uk/ kidneycareaudit By Donal O'Donoghue, National Director for Kidney Care. 7 BiCartwas developed to meet the demands of tougher requirements for hygienic and economic bicarbonate supplies For further information on Gambro's BiCart range, please email Samantha Ford samantha. ford@ gambro. com or call 01480 444006