N34 Service evaluation of nurse led Inflammatory Bowel Disease advice line : are we meeting national standards?

Background Introduction: Nurse led advice lines are a key component of care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), providing rapid access to specialist advice and supporting patients with personal disease management (Crohn’s and Colitis Care in the UK, 2021 ) . The National IBD Standards (2024), including Standard 4.3, state a response to advice line queries should be given by the end of the next working day. This audit assessed the performance of the York and Scarborough IBD advice line against national standards, focusing on response time, nature of queries, and service improvement opportunities. Methods A retrospective audit of all IBD related telephone contacts (n = 347) made in April 2024 was conducted using data from the local CPD database. Calls were categorised using the ECCO IBD advice line toolkit into “reason for call” and “plan and action.” Compliance with IBD Standard 4.3 was measured. Data was collected on demographics, IBD type, reason for call, response time, and plan of action. Administrative only calls were identified. Results Of the 337 calls analysed, only 49.5% (n = were returned within the required timeframe, indicating non-compliance with Standard 4.3. Medication concerns were the most frequent reason for contact (32.3%, n = 109), followed by non-medical administrative queries (21.4%, n = 72) and disease flares (17.8%, n = 60). Notably, 26.4% (n = 89) of calls were handled entirely by administrative staff. Medication related queries often required clinical input, with 23.4% of calls resulting in treatment changes. Conclusion Discussion: The audit revealed that the service is not currently meeting national standards for response times. High administrative burden, inefficiencies in triage, and lack of medication specific pathways were key barriers. A new online advice line triage form was implemented in January 2025 in order to enhance effective triaging of queries, improve compliance with standard 4.3 and enhance patient experience. Furthermore, additional proposed improvements include the enhanced administrative staffing and the involvement of IBD pharmacists to support medication related calls. Conclusion Nurse led IBD advice lines are essential to support patient care and services. Currently the York and Scarborough IBD advice line is not meeting national IBD Standard 4.3 in terms of response time of queries. A proposed system improvement of an online triage advice line form has been implemented and will be re-audited in the following months to assess service improvement. Reference: Crohn’s and Colitis Care in the UK. April 2021. IBD UK Report : The State of IBD Care in the UK. IBD UK. 2024. Conflict of interest: Morrison, Hannah: No conflicts of interest.