ANSA was founded in 2000 by Lesley Bennett, Karen Jenkins, Marie Chowrimootoo, and Bernice Thompson. All four founder members were renal anaemia nurses at the time and created  the association as a national and international network for renal anaemia nurses in order to advance the provision of anaemia services. It was recognised early on that clinical practice varied from centre to centre and as such ANSA wanted to provide a focal point to encourage, foster and facilitate excellence in exchanges of information and opinion. The over-arching purpose has and will always be to improve patient outcomes through optimal care and management. The first ANSA conference was held in 2002 and has been an annual event ever since.

Up until 2018 ANSA was paid membership association but since registering as a charity it is now free to become a member.  ANSA solely relies  on donations from sponsors and income from the  annual conference for financial support. All  committee members volunteer their time to run the association.

ANSA has been an affiliate of the British Renal Society (BRS) for many years  and has a seat on the BRS council . BRS holds our shared core aim of promoting effective patient-centered care to improve quality of life for people with chronic kidney disease,  their families and carers. ANSA’s affiliation with BRS has enabled our association to be part of and support innovations and advances in renal medicine. Indeed ANSA was involved in the writing and introduction of the NICE Guidelines ‘Anaemia management in people with chronic kidney disease (NICE Guideline 39). These guidelines were first published over a decade ago and were last updated in 2015 and have helped to define renal anaemia management both nationally and internationally.