10 June 2022
Congratulations
to our 2022 Best Practice Award winners. We’re looking back at the work of the
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford who won the award for its team’s
innovative project supporting patients virtually during the pandemic.
As a result of
the Covid-19 pandemic, the rheumatology team had around 7,000 patients that
needed to be assessed but they didn’t have the capacity to review them
face-to-face.
“We couldn’t offer telephone or video
consultations either because the clinic slots were already full,” explained
Professor Raashid Luqmani from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation
Trust. “These patients have long term conditions that need frequent review to
check their treatment is working and their symptoms are under control.”
The team decided to build a digital way
of working to remotely monitor the
health and wellbeing of patients with rheumatological conditions. It involved patients
being sent links to a set of online questionnaires via text or email.
The answers are sent securely to the
hospital where the medical team can view the summarised data together with the
patient’s record. It helps the team assess medications, pick up any new
problems, and patients can let them know how their health is affecting their
quality of life.
Doctors review all the information and
produce a report which is automatically sent to the patient and their GP. Once
completed, rheumatologists make recommendations on the best outcome for each
patient. This might be a telephone call, video call, an in-person assessment or
more remote monitoring.
This new system has meant more patients
can be assessed in less time, it prevents missed appointments, and avoids
unnecessary travel to hospital for people with conditions which are under
control.
Professor Luqmani said: “In one of our
clinics before the pandemic, we might’ve assessed 10-12 patients in an
afternoon. With the digital system we already have a lot of the information we
need meaning we can assess 6-8 patients in only an hour, and they don’t need to
come into hospital unnecessarily.”
Looking back on the 2022 winners, Sarah
Campbell, our new Chief Executive said “The team at
Nuffield have shown that the pandemic didn’t just create change out of
necessity but also lasting improvements in patient care. Using a digital
resource, they have managed to maintain high standards of clinical judgement
and furthered shared decision-making with patients. Measurable improvements
mean that this is being embedded into core practice, and of interest to other
specialties”.
The Best
Practice Award judges were impressed at how the team had integrated digital
ways of working into routine care, with compelling evidence of
improvements. Awards
judge, Ali
Rivett, said: “This approach has enabled cost efficiencies and drawn the
attention of other services, which makes this innovation a worthy best practice
winner.”
It’s hoped that the concept can be
developed for other specialties. “It could apply for patients with other
chronic conditions, like interstitial lung disease or inflammatory bowel
disease,” explains Professor Luqmani. “Essentially it could work wherever you
can use the experience of patients, using validated patient reported outcome
measures alongside any laboratory or imaging results to make decisions on the need
for treatment changes.”
The
next piece of work will be introducing the concept to patients on biologic
therapies. The team is also embedding it into the Trust’s patient-initiated
follow-up programme.
Congratulations to the Nuffield team for sharing their experience. You can find out more about their winning project and view their poster here.
The 2024 Best Practice Awards will be open for applications
from 1 - 29 September. These prestigious awards showcase innovation and
celebrate the outstanding efforts and achievements of rheumatology services
across the UK.
Find out more about the awards