Programme Documents & Resources

Patients who develop complete kidney failure (known as End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) require kidney replacement treatment by either dialysis or kidney transplantation.

The National Renal Office tracks the prevalence by location and the mode of treatment for patients receiving kidney replacement therapy in Ireland. Over the past 20 years, the demand for kidney replacement therapy for adults has more than doubled particularly in respect to provision of in centre haemodialysis and kidney transplantation. The table compares the 2003 data from the National Renal Strategic Review 2006, to NRO data from 2013 and 2023 for adult patients.

Number of prevalent Adult ESKD patients in Ireland over last 20 years

31/12/2003

In-Centre Haemodialysis 826
Home Dialysis 187
Total Dialysis 1,013
Kidney Transplant 1,391*
Total ESKD 2,404

*Transplant numbers from 2003 may be an overestimate (National Renal Strategic review 2006)

31/12/2013

In-Centre Haemodialysis 1,556
Home Dialysis 248
Total Dialysis 1,804
Kidney Transplant 2,156
Total ESKD 3,960

31/12/2023

In-Centre Haemodialysis 2,191
Home Dialysis 294
Total Dialysis 2,485
Kidney Transplant 2,705
Total ESKD 5,190

The NRO has collaborated with international registry data analysis. The number of patients requiring treatment for ESKD in Ireland now stands at 1,000 people per million population (p.m.p) in 2023. This rate is comparable to that seen in other EU countries such as Norway & Austria but significantly below the rate recorded in other countries such as France, Greece & USA. End Stage Renal Disease International comparisons (usrds-adr.niddk.nih.gov)

Ireland remains one of the few countries where the majority of patients on kidney replacement treatment are treated by kidney transplantation 2,755 (52%) with 6% (305) on home therapies and 42% by in-centre haemodialysis (2,197).

The numbers of children requiring treatment for End Stage Kidney disease in 2023 reduced slightly to 67 patients - this represents a decrease of 4 patients. (1 additional patient on dialysis with 5 less transplant patients).

Activity Summary 2023

The number of patients requiring treatment by dialysis or kidney transplantation increased to 5,257 (5,190 adults and 67 children) in 2023
- This represents a net increase of 109 patients or 2.1%
- 113 additional adult patients but 4 less children
The number of patients in Ireland living with a kidney transplant at the end of 2023 stood at 2,755
The number of patients receiving treatment by dialysis is 2,502
Over 440,000 dialysis treatments were delivered by the HSE in 2023

Transplantation:

The National Kidney Transplant Programme reported 191 kidney transplants in 2023: 30 of these were provided by living donors
The number of patients alive with a kidney transplant at the end of the 2023 only increased by 77 patients, due to kidney transplant failure and sadly patient deaths.

In-Centre Haemodialysis:

Over 340,000 in-centre haemodialysis treatments to adult patients were delivered in 24 centres (13 HSE hospital Parent Renal Units, 2 HSE Hospital satellite dialysis units and 9 HSE contracted satellite units)
The number of adult patient receiving incentre haemodialysis in 2023 now stands at 2,191 (1,461 treated in HSE hospitals based dialysis units, 736 in HSE contracted dialysis units) - this represents an increase of 38 patients.
The number of children receiving haemodialysis in the National Paediatric Dialysis Centre in Temple St, University Hospital, CHI is unchanged in 2023.

Home Dialysis Therapies:

More than 100,000 home dialysis therapy treatment were delivered in Ireland in 2023
The total number of patients carrying out dialysis treatment in their home reduced slightly by 2 patients at 305 (294 adults and 11 children).
Over 45,000 hospital visits were avoided by home dialysis therapy

In 2023, the HSE supported the NRO’s proposal for a modernised care pathway for home dialysis therapy. This pathway development proposal funded the allocation of additional supports to home dialysis training centres and the provision of home dialysis nurses to all hospital renal units. This will support and encourage patients in the uptake of care in their own home.

The HSE National Service Plan 2022 provided additional supports to meet the growing demand across the country.