Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Lewsey Road, Luton, LU4 0DZ

Project Name: Management of Spondyloarthritis Patients at Bedford Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Project Summary:

The Collaborative Working Project (“CWP”) aims to  improve the Rheumatology Service at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (“CW Partner”) by actioning the following;

1. Manage the backlog of patients in the Rheumatology Service and support and enhance the service thereafter
2. Update the Rheumatology database
3. Develop and provide patient educational support

The proposed new services will be deployed at the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital and consist of the following core elements:

Nurse Led Clinics:

To improve efficiency and care such as time to treatment (T-to-T), a Band 6 Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) will be recruited for 1 year to review a Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) and Axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) to initially review a backlog patient cohort of approximately 640 and subsequently support and enhance the service thereafter.

Establish an Accurate Database 

To help the CWP identify sub optimally treated patients more readily, a Band 4 Nurse/Data Manager will be recruited to review clinic letters and update the database to ensure that they have the right disease outcomes recorded. 

Digital Patient Education Support

To support patient education, the CW Partner will acquire CONNECTPlus App which will house individual videos to provide drug education. Educational videos will include one for each Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) and one for each Class/Method of Action (MOA) for Biologics. Videos will be edited to meet local needs. The CONNECTPlus App will be disseminated to patients via clinic appointments.

Expected Benefits:

Anticipated Benefits to Patients:

• Updated records allow for quicker access to NICE recommended treatments
• Acceleration in the number of follow up patients being escalated to NICE recommended treatments which will improve patient experience and QoL
• Treatment Management closer to home plus the ability to involve other members of their family in their condition at the comfort of their home.

Anticipated Benefits to the Organisation:

• Database provides great opportunity to respond to patients need and improve time-to access all NICE recommended treatments
• Improvement in time-to-treatment target for the department
• Virtual innovation, Faster Patient Education and allocation of clinic time to more urgent matter.

Anticipated Benefit to Novartis:

• Increased appropriate use of licensed medicines in line with NICE guidelines, including Novartis’ therapies;
• Improved reputation;
• Improved professional and transparent relationship and trust between Novartis and the NHS

Start Date & Duration: December-2023 for 18 months

UK2312086652

Project Name: Management of Spondyloarthritis Patients at Bedford Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 

Organisation(s): Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Lewsey Road, Luton, LU4 0DZ (the “CW Partner”) 

Completion Date: January 2026

Outcome Summary: 

By expanding the current service capacity through introduction of a dedicated band 6 nurse, patients benefited through acceleration and escalation to the appropriate treatments. The band 4 nurse/data manager, ensured the right disease outcomes were recorded. The clinical team also provided patient education information and resources to patients.

Key Project Outcomes Data: 

Collaboration with Novartis helped Luton & Dunstable University Hospital achieve the following outcomes: 

1. Band 6 nurse was recruited to help deliver the project.
2. 1117 patients were reviewed in dedicated Spondyloarthropathy clinic over 12 months
3. Database was fully updated with latest disease assessments.
4. 33% of reviewed patients required escalation, titration or transition of therapy.
5. 48% of reviewed patients achieved clinical remission because of interventions provided.
6. Average time for treat-to-target dropped from 9-12 months to 6-9 months.
7. Dedicated patient education videos were developed, piloted and then fully integrated in clinical care pathway. 65% of patients utilised this resource vacating nurse clinic capacity to focus on other clinical priorities.
8. Following the demonstration of this project’s outcome, a business case for permanent band 6 clinical nurse specialist and educational videos was approved by the Bedford Hospital NHS Foundation Trust board (“Trust”). 

Outcomes: 

By expanding the current service capacity through introduction of a dedicated band 6 Nurse (and clinics associated), patients benefited through acceleration and escalation to the appropriate treatment, which may consequently improve patient experience and quality of life. There was also an improvement in time-to-treatment target for the department. Through introduction of a band 4 nurse/data manager, who looked at the last clinic letters and updated the database, the team has been able to ensure it has the correct disease outcomes recorded. This helped the Trust identify sub-optimally treated patients more readily, increasing both the number of patients who can access treatments and the pace at which the Trust can do (twinned with new capacity created). The clinical team also provided patient education information and resources to patients. This education came in the form of individual videos which provided drug education (one for each disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and one for each class/mode of action for biologics). By providing additional support to patients, the parties hope that this will support patients by bringing treatment management closer to home, including the opportunity for patients to involve other members of their family in their condition management. 

Conclusion: 

This collaborative working project improved service capacity and patient access to appropriate treatments in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. The clinical team intends to publish this project highlighting the patient benefits and improved clinical pathways. 

FA-11712968 | June 2026