PKD App (UK)
Discover the PKD app, a free app for people living with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) and the families around them – clinically grounded, private, and available whenever questions arise.
If you work in a renal service, an NHS Trust, or a patient organisation, you have one trusted resource to put in people's hands from diagnosis onwards.
This means patients get accurate answers in the weeks between appointments – instead of whatever the internet offers them at midnight.
Available free on the Apple App Store and Google Play. No account required.
The moment the questions begin
A clinic appointment can explain a diagnosis. It can outline what happens next, what to watch for, and who to call. But it can't answer every question a person will have in the days that follow – once the information has settled, and the anxiety has had time to grow.
People living with ADPKD often leave appointments with more questions than they arrived with. What does this mean for my family? What can I eat? What should I avoid? Will my children be affected?
Those questions don't wait for the next appointment. And when people search online, they often find outdated, inaccurate, or frightening information.
Is this for you?
Built for renal services, NHS Trusts, renal networks, and patient organisations. Three problems you'll recognise:
- Clinic time can't cover everything – especially at diagnosis, when patients absorb only a fraction of what they're told.
- Queries arrive between appointments – anxious, repeated, and often about things already covered in clinic.
- Patients find frightening information online – and consultations get spent correcting it rather than moving forward.
All of it costs something – in clinical time on repeat questions, in anxiety that needn't have built, and in appointments spent undoing what someone read at 2am.
What you're giving patients
Trusted guidance from diagnosis onwards. Put the app in people's pockets and you can:
- Help them understand their condition – clear, accurate explanations of ADPKD, symptoms, causes, and progression.
- Support everyday life – practical guidance on diet, exercise, work, and family life.
- Help them plan ahead – genetic counselling, family planning, and what to expect over time.
- Point them to the right support – renal services, The PKD Charity, peer support, and helplines.
- Support the people around them – guidance for partners, children, and carers living alongside ADPKD.
Written in plain English and easy to return to – especially after appointments, or during periods of uncertainty.
The app is not a replacement for clinical care. It sits alongside your renal services – reinforcing clinic messages, reducing repeated queries, and supporting patients when your team can't be there.
Make a difference – without straining budgets or teams
Four priorities it supports:
- Reduce repeated queries – consistent answers to the questions your team fields again and again.
- Make consultations more productive – patients arrive better informed, asking better questions.
- Support patients between appointments – reassurance during the long gaps a lifelong condition involves.
- Counter misinformation – a trusted alternative to what people find searching alone.
Free for patients and organisations. No contracts, no set-up, no personal data collected. Suitable for use across NHS Trusts, renal networks, and ICS pathways.
Built to the standards you'd expect
Commissioned by The PKD Charity and developed by Expert Self Care – built around the specific needs of people living with ADPKD, with input from Kidney Care UK, Kidney Research UK, and the UK Kidney Association, and funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
- PIF TICK accredited
- ORCHA aligned
- NHS DTAC compliant
Suitable for use across NHS Trusts, renal networks, and ICS pathways.
More on how we develop and quality-assure our content.
Make it local
NHS Trusts, renal networks, and charities can add a branded homepage and clear signposting to local renal pathways, services, and support – connecting condition-specific guidance to your own service.
Ready to talk?
If you'd like to explore how the PKD App could support people with ADPKD in your service, let's spend 20 minutes on it.