IBD Registry has won the Agility and Flexibility Award in the 2021 Healthcare Communications Communiqué Awards, for its COVID-19 Patient Risk Tool for people with IBD.
When the UK Government announced its COVID-19 shielding programme, there was no single national organisation with all the right data to find and assess the risks of COVID-19 for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The IBD Registry solved the problem by empowering patients to lead the way. Working remotely, they pulled together a team of clinical, patient, technical and communications experts and in just eight days, built and launched a patient-friendly self-assessment risk tool to reassure patients and support hospital IBD teams.
The tool enables patients to do their own risk assessment and share the data securely with their hospital IBD team. By the time the first shielding period ended in August 2020, over 34,000 people with IBD had used the tool, and their results had been made available to 174 NHS Trusts and Health Boards.
It’s been so successful that it’s still being regularly used today, and over 40,000 patients and their IBD teams have benefitted from it to date.
Commenting on the Patient Risk Tool, the judges said: “It addressed the need for practical tools and the requirement to centralise data, ensuring governance within the pathway. The implementation pulled on its collaborative network and multiple partners, using their engagement with patients as a key mechanism within the process, supported by demonstrable results in line with the strategy. Impactful, impressive and meaningful. We absolutely loved it!”
The Communiqué Awards recognise, reward and commend excellence and best practice in healthcare communications.
Liz Dobson, Chief Executive of IBD Registry and also IBD Registry workstream Executive Lead at Gut Reaction, said: “It was a great achievement to reach the shortlist, and being announced the winner in our category is a credit to the hard work of the team who put the COVID-19 Patient Risk Tool together – and of course to the thousands of patients who used it to find out their risk.”
- The 2021 Communiqué Awards were presented on 1 September 2021.
