ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the way in which the group defined the health care needs of the existing and potential renal patient population and the criteria it used to inform its decision making. It provides the renal review group’s work in a historical, economic and geo-political context comparing UK health care policy with respect to renal services with those in other Western countries. The chairman of the group was a Professor of Renal medicine with an international reputation, highly respected by his peers, who had been involved in epidemiological studies of need for renal services and modelling renal services. One of the main concerns that informed the review group’s recommendations was the current provision and future need for renal services. The group’s analysis of epidemiology, geography and access to services led to the view that the present siting of renal services in the capital created inequity of access.
