How will patients' treatments be decided in the study?
Click above to watch a video of Dr Fergus Caskey, the Trial Chief Investigator, discussing how treatments will be decided for patients in the study.
Prepare for Kidney Care is a randomised controlled trial (external link). This is the gold standard method for identifying the best treatment for a medical problem.
To allow a fair comparison of preparation for renal dialysis and preparation for responsive management, patients who agree to take part in the Prepare for Kidney Care Study will be randomly allocated to receive either one of these two treatment pathways. Information will be collected using interviews with patients and their loved ones and hospital data.
Preparation for renal dialysis and preparation for responsive management will be compared paying close attention how well people feel day-to-day, how likely they are to start dialysis and how long they live. The study will also reveal the impact treatments have on patients, their families and their carers. The results will help future patients to make better-informed decisions about their care.
Participants and their kidney teams can choose to exit the study at any time and return to routine NHS care, regardless of which treatment pathway they were randomised to. Patients on both pathways will receive care from their GPs, kidney team and other healthcare teams, as needed.