Since its launch in January 2024, KitNewCare has undertaken substantial technical and scientific work to advance its aim of improving the sustainability of kidney care across Europe. Clinical pathway mapping has been completed for haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis across four European countries (Italy, Poland, Spain, and the Netherlands), using a harmonised methodology aligned with ISO standards. This mapping provides the basis for cross-country comparison and intervention design. A 4-factor Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) database has been developed, capturing environmental, social, clinical, and financial indicators of kidney care delivery. This includes baseline data collection and early modelling of high-impact areas. Twelve open-access datasets have been published on Zenodo, including detailed metadata and visual documentation to support reuse, transparency, and future benchmarking.
Sustainability interventions have been piloted at four dialysis centres using Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) improvement cycles. Interventions to date include: fluid bag switching, waste separation trials, procurement modifications, and patient/staff transport optimisation. Early feedback and impact assessments are underway. Technical innovations have been tested in partnership with SMEs and clinical teams. These include reprocessing of dialysate, heat recovery from dialysis machines, and the introduction of lower-carbon packaging. Results are currently being compiled and validated.
A digital benchmarking dashboard has been developed and is undergoing pilot testing at participating centres. This tool will enable ongoing monitoring of environmental, clinical, social, and financial performance.
Work ongoing on systematic reviews, covering health outcomes, cost implications, carbon trade-offs, and social impacts of sustainable kidney care approaches. These technical activities represent strong progress across all core work packages laying the groundwork for full-scale implementation, analysis, and policy translation in the next phases of the project and are underpinned by a multi-layered stakeholder engagement strategy, ensuring that scientific results are co-designed, actionable, and ready for implementation across healthcare systems.
