UHP consultant helping to give rheumatology patients control with new toolkit

Dr Mark Perry, Consultant Rheumatologist at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) and Senior Tutor at Peninsula Medical School, University of Plymouth, is helping rheumatology patients take control of their care thanks to a new patient-initiated follow-up toolkit.
Patient-initiated follow-up (PIFU) is an intervention which gives patients and their carers the flexibility to arrange follow-up appointments as and when they’re needed, and Dr Mark Perry has been researching the benefits of PIFU services since 2001.
Co-created by leading experts, clinicians, and patients, the new rheumatology toolkit has been designed to benefit both healthcare professionals and patients to help with the implementation of high-quality PIFU in rheumatology services across the NHS.
Speaking about the development of the toolkit, Dr Mark Perry said: “Shared decision making is critical to a successful PIFU service, and it is important to provide accessible high-quality educational materials to help patients decide what management is best for them.
“Patients with chronic rheumatic conditions typically access NHS services for the remainder of their lives. Getting the implementation of PIFU right establishes trust between patients and those services.”
This approach aims to reduce unnecessary hospital visits while ensuring timely and personalised care for those who need it most. This represents a significant shift in how care is managed for patients with chronic rheumatic diseases, as traditionally, rheumatology services were predominantly delivered in outpatient settings through fixed appointments.
The project was funded by the British Society for Rheumatology advanced research funding call and was co-produced with input from patients and professional patient groups like National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) and National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS). The toolkit has been designed to be as accessible as possible to all, and as well as being available for free for use by different NHS services, it can be co-branded by Trusts, allowing local hospitals to adapt the toolkit for their specific needs.
The material from this toolkit will be a key part of the intervention in the upcoming National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) TaILOR trial (trial of patient-initiated care leading to improved outcomes in rheumatology) which will be investigating the impact of PIFU on rheumatology services. To find out more about research in health and social care and how you can take part, visit the NIHR’s Be Part of Research website, or for more information about research at UHP, visit the Research and Development page of our website.
To find out more about the toolkit, or to download it, visit the British Society for Rheumatology.