The organisation of paediatric renal care in different European countries: results of the PAC project.
The Paediatric Access Care (PAC) project, organised by the Research Board of EDTNA/ERCA, aimed to study the organisation of paediatric renal care in Europe and to investigate the practice of access care for both haemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) paediatric patients. This paper reports on the organisation of paediatric renal care. The majority of paediatric renal care units were located in specific paediatric units of university hospitals. Most of the centres had offered HD, PD and transplantation (Tx) for more than 20 years. Half of nursing staff had qualifications in paediatric and renal nursing. Most of the centres offered an extended multidisciplinary team approach with the family actively involved in the care of the patient. PD and HD were equally used. Automatic Peritoneal Dialysis (APD) was offered as the standard PD treatment in 2 out of 3 centres. The HD schedule mostly utilised was 3 x 4 hours a week. Half of the patients were on the Tx waiting list and one third of registered patients were transplanted in 2004.
Knoll
J
J
Paediatric Renal Unit, University Hospital of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. jknoll@planet.nl
Demol
A
A
Elseviers
M
M
Harrington
M
M
De Vos
J Y
JY
Zampieron
A
A
Ormandy
P
P
Kafkia
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006436:Hemodialysis Units, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D009398:Nephrology / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017582:Renal Replacement Therapy / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014850:Waiting Lists