Multidisciplinary staff attitudes to home haemodialysis therapy

Background: More than a decade after the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommendation of home haemodialysis (home HD) for 10-15% of those needing renal replacement therapy, the uptake across different regions in the UK remains uneven. Methods: This survey is part of the Barriers to Successful Implementation of Care in Home Haemodialysis (BASIC-HHD) study, an observational study of patient and organizational factor barriers and enablers of home HD uptake, in the UK. The study centres had variable prevalence of home HD by design [low: <3% (2), medium: 5-8% (2) and high: >8% (1)]. This survey was administered electronically in 2013, and had 20 questions pertaining to home HD beliefs and practices. A total of 104 members of staff across five study centres were approached to complete the survey. Results: The response rate was 46%, mostly from experienced HD practitioners. Most believed in the benefits of home HD therapy. Across all centres, respondents believed that preconceptions about patients' and carers' ability to cope with home HD (35% to a great or very great extent) and staff knowledge and bias influenced offer of home HD therapy (45%). Also, compared with respondents from high prevalence (HP) centre, those from low prevalence (LP) centres felt that display and presentation of dialysis information lacked clarity and uniformity (44% versus 18%), and that a better set-up for training patients for self-care HD was required (72.8% versus 33.3%). A greater proportion of respondents from the HP centre expressed concerns over caregiver support and respite care for patients on home HD (63.7% versus 33.3%). Conclusions: Survey results indicate that across all centres in the study, there is an appetite for growing home HD. There are some differences in attitudes and practice between LP and HP centres. There are other domains where all centres have expressed concern and addressing these will be influential in navigating change from the current course.