NOC Rheumatology team wins national award

The Rheumatology team at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford has won a national award for its pioneering work supporting patients virtually during the pandemic.

The team received a Best Practice Award from the British Society for Rheumatology, which celebrates innovative projects that make a difference to the lives of rheumatology patients.

The project involved a set of online questionnaires and a digital system to allow the rheumatology team to remotely monitor the health and wellbeing of patients with conditions like arthritis, vasculitis and connective tissue diseases.

Professor Raashid Luqmani, from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who led the project said: "As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic we had around 7,000 rheumatology patients that we needed to assess, but we couldn't see them face-to-face or use telephone or video consultations because all our clinic slots were already full. These patients have long-term conditions that need frequent review to check their treatment is working and their symptoms are under control."

The team built a digital way of working which involves patients being sent links to a set of online questionnaires via text or email. The answers are then sent securely to the hospital where the medical team can view the 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 innovative 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 six to eight in only an hour, and they don't need to come into hospital unnecessarily."

Ali Rivett, Chief Executive of the British Society for Rheumatology, said: "By integrating digital ways of working into routine care, this project provided the judging panel with compelling evidence of improvements. This approach has also enabled cost efficiencies and drawn the attention of other services, all of which make this innovation a worthy best practice winner."

On the team's award win, Professor Luqmani said: "It's fabulous news for the whole team who've worked so hard during the pandemic to get this up and running. It's an endorsement that our work has value and can go beyond rheumatology to help other specialties not just in our trust, but it can be replicated throughout the country and even further afield."