An exciting project which is keeping people out of hospital has been shortlisted for a prestigious HSJ national health award.
The Rheumatology Connected Health Network project, which we have developed in partnership with Grimsby and Immingham’s Meridian Health Group, is a new model of care in which GPs and hospitals work together as one clinical network.
This means GPs no longer need to send their rheumatology patients to hospital. Instead, they work directly with our specialists, who become an extended part of the GP practice to agree how we can safely deliver your care from your GP.
The Rheumatology Connected Health Network is in the running for the HSJ Awards 2024 Primary and Community Care Innovation of the Year category.
Dr Tim Gillott, Rheumatology Consultant and lead consultant for the project, said: “This is such wonderful news to have been shortlisted for a national award. Everyone has worked so hard on this project, and the results speak for themselves – recognition at a national level for the innovative and integration approach we have adopted.”
Dr Doria Bouzebra, who has a special interest in rheumatology and works at Meridian, said: “We have been running the pilot for the past two years and during that time we have successfully managed the majority of patients within the practice. We have also become the first point of contact for many Meridian rheumatology patients who were already under the hospital. It has been about putting rheumatology patients at the heart of how we provide their care.
“I genuinely feel this model of working is the way forward for practicing medicine in the NHS and I am sure it will inspire clinicians to work on many more similar projects in the future.”
Since the pilot started in April 2022 to the end of March 2024, a total of 280 patients were seen by the service. Of those 83% were managed by their GP, with only 17% being sent to hospital. The Humber Health Group are now pulling together the lessons from this and other pilots, into a wider outpatient transformation program focused on adopting the principles of partnership working for a new model of outpatient delivery.
Traditionally GPs refer patients with rheumatological conditions into the hospital. They may experience a long wait to see a specialist, and regular follow up appointments necessitating travel to the hospital.
Dr Gillott said: “With this project patients are managed close to the homes by their own GP as we share the care jointly. We provide the GPs with the advice and support needed to successfully manage patients in primary care.”
This project follows on from an award-winning cardiology project which we also piloted with the Meridian Health Group, which has subsequently been rolled out with other Primary Care Networks.