An initiative to improve care for local people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a regional winner in the first NHS England Excellence Awards.
The Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland Chronic Kidney Disease Integrated Care Delivery Project (LUCID) is a novel, population-based approach to ensure equitable care for adults with CKD.
The service, which is the Midlands regional champion in the Delivering Value category of the awards, ensures that patients receive the most appropriate medicines and other support from their local GP practice, without having to visit a hospital clinic.
Dr Rupert Major, Consultant Nephrologist at UHL and Associate Professor at the University of Leicester, is the clinical lead for LUCID, LLR ICB and the national lead for Integrated CKD Care at the UK Kidney Association.
He said: “This award recognises the outstanding partnership work across our local NHS, with colleagues from primary care, secondary care and our communities coming together to co-design and deliver LUCID. By working together, we can provide people living with kidney disease earlier diagnosis, better access to effective treatments and high-quality care closer to home — helping patients live healthier and more independent lives.
“Kidney disease is a major public health challenge, often affecting people alongside other long-term conditions. LUCID has shown how integrating specialist expertise in the community can improve outcomes, reduce the risk of serious complications such as dialysis, heart attacks and strokes, and deliver better value for the NHS.
“We are particularly encouraged that the success of this approach is now being replicated elsewhere, including the recent launch of a similar programme in Northamptonshire. This reflects the strength of the partnerships behind LUCID and our shared ambition to transform care for people with long-term conditions across the region.”
CKD is often linked with other health conditions such as diabetes, heart failure and metabolic disorders and is associated with premature heart-related deaths and higher rates of emergency and unplanned hospital admissions. The disease costs around £7 billion of NHS funding per year. Transformational, cost-effective therapies are now available and can substantially lower these risks, but implementation has been slow across the NHS and within some communities.
Dr Raj Than, clinical lead for long-term conditions at the LLR ICB, said: “The success of the initiative is down to the fantastic co-operation between different teams in our local NHS. The service has made a real difference to people’s lives, evidenced by the positive feedback from patients and their families, who have been impressed with the care they have received, without the need to attend hospital.
“It is also really encouraging to see that our approach has been of interest to other ICBs, wanting to offer something similar for their patients.”
LUCID began as a Joint Working initiative between The John Walls Renal Unit, University Hospitals Leicester and AstraZeneca UK. Co-designed with patients and built on evidence-based CKD pathways, LUCID redesigned how primary and secondary care work together by embedding consultant expertise in the community.
The model addresses under-diagnosis, fragmented care and under-utilisation of proven therapies by shifting the emphasis to early diagnosis, and treatment, to slow down progression of the illness. The service has achieved better health outcomes for patients and led to savings of approximately £450,000 per year, driven by reduced waste, more consistent prescribing and avoiding unnecessary hospital care.
The NHS Excellence Awards shine a light on local teams, projects and individuals who are driving improvements, with the aim of sharing learning and inspiring others to adopt successful approaches in their own areas.
Regional champions from across England will now form the shortlist from which national winners will be selected. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at NHS ConfedExpo in Manchester in June 2026.