The SMART Early RA Audit 2019 collected data from September to November 2019. This followed on from the CARA and SNARE audits and collected similar data to these and the BSR/HQIP audit allowing data to be compared with previous audits, and with our colleagues in England and Wales. We aimed to capture all new RA patients seen in Scotland between 1st September 2019 and 30 November 2019 and collected baseline data, then follow up data after six and twelve months.
All the relevant paperwork is available on the audit section of the SSR website in electronic format – this can be tailored to your local needs with local contact numbers etc. We suggest that consent is obtained from all new patients with likely inflammatory arthritis so that all eligible data can be collected. If the diagnosis of RA is not confirmed, there is an option to record this at the 6 month follow up point and no further data needs to be entered for those patients.
The audit has been approved by the Public Benefit and Privacy Panel (PBPP) for Scotland so getting approval from your local Information governance and/or Caldicott guardian should be straightforward.
To enter data and see your centre’s data, you will need a password. This will be the same as the password you have used for previous audits. If you have forgotten this, or do not already have a password, please complete the password application form and send it to audit@rcpe.ac.uk.
Further information is available from Liz Murphy at Elizabeth.Murphy@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
