Paul E. Stevens, Simon de Lusignan, Christopher K.T. Farmer, Charles R.V. Tomson

Over the last decade, since the introduction of an international classification of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the development of simple tools to detect people with CKD, primary care has had to adapt to a new paradigm of disease. Significantly, improved identification of CKD, and increased awareness and understanding of the potential associated adverse outcomes, has in turn required the development, implementation and integration of new policies, models and pathways of care. The UK health care system, including primary care, is uniquely positioned to respond to new initiatives. Despite early reservations, CKD has gone from an unheard of condition in primary care prior to 2006 to one where people with this condition are recorded in disease registers and increasingly managed in accordance with evidence-based guidance. National and local initiatives implemented together have contributed to the improved understanding and management of CKD in primary care in the UK and are showing signs of having made significant health gains in CKD.