P06 Driving up quality: local observations from the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit
Authors: Loh Jack , Withers Joshua , FIsh Sarah , MacPhie Elizabeth 
Published: April 2020

Background

The National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit (NEIAA) provides the opportunity for rheumatology services to benchmark the care they provide against NICE quality standards (QS) 33. It provides a mechanism to identify where improvements can be made. This project assessed compliance against QS2: patients are seen in a rheumatology clinic within 3 weeks of referral and QS3: patients with newly diagnosed RA should be offered short-term glucocorticoids and a combination of DMARDs within 6 weeks of referral.

Methods

Data submitted to the NEIAA online tool during the first year of the audit were downloaded for analysis. Results were presented to the Rheumatology Multi-Disciplinary Team. The patient pathway was mapped, driver diagrams were developed by the team and areas for improvement identified.

Results

In total 246 patients were recruited to the audit, 71(29%) had confirmed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and were included in the follow-up cohort. All patients had a baseline form completed, and 61 (86%) had a 3-month follow-up form completed. The mean patient age in the RA cohort was 62 years (range: 26-88). Rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) status was recorded in 69 (97%) and 63 (88%) respectively with, 33 (52%) positive for RF and 26 (38%) for ACPA. Twenty-two patients (8.9%) were seen within 3 weeks of being referred and 5 patients (7%) started DMARD therapy within 6 weeks of referral. On average, patients waited 66 days (range: 5-138) to be seen and diagnosed, and if sent for investigations on average a further 50 days (range: 37-69) to diagnosis. There was an additional wait for drug education, with patients waiting a mean of 25 days and 39 days if they had been sent for investigations to confirm diagnosis. Prior to starting DMARD therapy 65 (90%) patients were given bridging steroids. Sixty-five (92%) patients started DMARDs, and in those that didn’t there was justification. A higher proportion of patients &gt;65years started DMARD monotherapy in sero-positive patients and those with a high DAS28 we found more use of combination DMARD therapy. Process mapping and driver diagrams highlighted areas for improvement, both clinician and patient in origin. Regarding QS2 these include developing referral guidelines for primary care, increasing triage capacity, simplifying the booking process, increasing new appointment capacity (additional consultant, upskilling extended scope practitioner and specialist nurse) and introducing text reminders. In relation to QS3 these include: one-stop clinic with access to ultrasound, increasing drug education and monitoring clinic capacity, improve sign-posting to National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society.

Conclusion

The NEIAA has provided detailed information about the patient pathway which has enabled the team to identify priority areas for improvement. The prospective nature of the audit will allow the team to determine if changes are improving performance.

Disclosures

J. Loh None. J. Withers None. S. FIsh None. E. MacPhie Other; EM is the secretary of the North West Rheumatology Club; meetings are supported by an unrestricted educational grant from UCB.