A reduction in preventable harm is needed to help NHS trusts cope with COVID-19 (December 2020)

Summary

As winter pressures combined with COVID-19 create more stress for the NHS, hospitals could look at reducing exacerbating factors such as acute kidney injury, says Dr Mark Ratnarajah, managing director, UK, of digital health company C2-Ai.

A study by researchers at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, found that Acute Kidney Infection (AKI) was a significant factor for COVID-19 admissions to Intensive Care Units (ICU) and deaths. AKI was present in 31 per cent of Covid-19 hospital patients, and the condition was associated with 27 per cent of admissions to ICU. The findings also showed that more than twice the number of COVID-19 patients with AKI died, compared to those without it.

As AKI can commonly be acquired in hospital, it would be beneficial to both patients and hospitals if clinicians are able to consider the likelihood of anyone contracting the condition. For this, an individualised risk-assessment of a patient is needed, rather than a generalised catch-all approach.

Click on the link below to read the full article, published in the Journal of mHealth.