Evolution of an inflammatory bowel disease helpline and implications for service design and development

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) clinical nurse specialists deliver a service that is highly valued by patients. Access to a specialist nurse-led IBD helpline forms part of the UK IBD consensus standards. This retrospective cohort study analyses the workload evolution of an IBD helpline and discusses its implications for the design of future services. Helpline activity was shown to increase significantly between 2016 and 2018. While largely due to appropriate increased patient demand for acute advice, significant inefficiencies were demonstrated. These are likely to be present in other comparable helpline services, alongside opportunities for making more efficient use of specialist nurse time. In addition, helpline activity was shown to generate a significant additional workload involving patient follow-up and results. Robust methods for capturing this workload could help units with similar services with service design, job planning and reimbursement.