Study setting
WEST
Patients were recruited from a single nephrology centre located in Birmingham, England, consisting of one in-hospital dialysis unit and ten private-provider satellite units distributed around the West Midlands. The service provides haemodialysis to patients in a mixture of urban and rural settings, with a diverse range of ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Eligible patients were identified by interrogation of hospital electronic patient records (EPR) and from discussion with clinicians at each dialysis unit. Informed consent was obtained from all participants after being given written and verbal information about the study, and given sufficient opportunity to consider the information before giving their consent to join the cohort study.