Quality standard

This quality standard covers preventing, detecting and managing acute kidney injury in adults, young people and children. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.

It does not cover managing acute kidney injury in pregnancy or in people with a kidney transplant. NICE has also published a quality standard on renal replacement therapy services for adults.

In March 2023, this quality standard was updated and replaced the previous version published in 2014. The topic was identified for update following discussions with NHS England’s Renal Services Transformation Programme and the UK Kidney Association. The discussions identified changes in the priority areas for improvement. For more information see update information.

How to use NICE quality standards and how we develop them

Quality standards help you improve the quality of care you provide or commission. They apply in England and Wales (see the UK government website and Welsh government website). Decisions on how they apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland are made by ministers in the Scottish government and Northern Ireland Executive.

Find out how to use quality standards and how we develop them. We check our quality standards every August to make sure they are up to date.