A very satisfactory end to the week on Friday 26th August – Sky News took up on the theme of AKI with a patient, Andrew Quille, who recently suffered from AKI being shown on film with Chris Laing, his consultant. Richard Fluck was also interviewed so we have achieved a much higher profile for AKI after Sky picked up on the Patient Safety Alert from NHS Improvement, signposting people to the Think Kidneys website for resources to help recognize and actively treat AKI. A news item followed this on the Sky News website.
A film was also made available on the Sky News website and this also carried the message about AKI, including hydration, that we wanted to get across. We really must not be negative in any way about getting the message across, but it’s a shame that the video showed the usual clips of a dialysis machine when the vast majority of AKI should be prevented from getting that far by prompt but usually simple intervention.
Given that the public campaign was initially going to try and get across some of the intricacies of AKI but found that this task would just prove too difficult, it is excellent that we are getting air time for AKI. Both professionals and lay people feel that we are starting to get some of the message across. The kidneys are not well understood generally. An Ipsos MORI poll conducted at the start of the ‘Think Kidneys’ programme told us that that approximately 50% of the population did not know that the kidneys make urine. How we could go from there to try to get across that there are specific groups in certain situations that are most at risk of AKI, would have been an enormous education project. And as the FAST campaign for stroke awareness showed, even relatively simple messages can be difficult to convey effectively.
The Think Kidneys public campaign group decided to concentrate on messages about the kidneys in general – “your kidneys are amazing!” – and hydration – taking enough fluid and targeting various groups that are most at risk. The poster campaign is gradually extending its reach and impact. While some members of the focus groups expressed concern about some of the language (“Are you taking the piss?”), others thought this would have an impact, be thought provoking and grab people’s attention. That particular poster does seem to have caught some peoples’ attention.
Mr Quille made the point that “People think if you have a heart attack, that’s a big thing. Kidneys are no different. If your kidneys fail your body is failing.” Maybe that is what the next theme should be if we get the chance and feel that the initial foray into the public consciousness has gained traction. I don’t understand why such amazing organs as the kidneys are so poorly understood, but I suppose I’m biased. I know I will continue to get the message across – your kidneys are amazing!
Mike Jones
Mike Jones is an acute physician working in University Hospital of North Durham. Having trained in Nephrology and worked as a consultant in that specialty, he was at the forefront of developing acute medicine as a new specialty.
Mike is chair of the SAC in acute medicine, and has been President of the Society for Acute Medicine. He is recently demitted Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Mike remains active in education and training having developed the ACAT assessment tool and is responsible for the modified curricula for General Internal Medicine as well as Acute Medicine.
Mike is chair of the education workstream of the national AKI programme.