‘The last few years have been an exciting time in the field of PBC with real advances in understanding and treatment,’ says Professor Jones. ‘Whilst our work includes drug development it is ever more important that we deliver existing management approaches in an effective way.
‘We have developed this tool to help clinicians managing their PBC patients to use the audit standards in clinical practice. We have also included a spread sheet format to allow centres to database their findings so that we can begin to develop a national picture for centres to benchmark their practice against.’
The audit tool has already been piloted at the Newcastle Liver Unit, leading to changes including more thorough reviews and evaluation of weight vs dosage along with proactively asking questions about side effects such as itching and fatigue in order for patients to be offered appropriate therapy.
In addition, underdosing of UDCA is an ongoing issue in many PBC centres, it is hoped that the audit will also provide the function of raising awareness about correct dosage of UDCA linked to weight.
‘We hope that this audit will allow all of us to benchmark our clinical practice and to facilitate improvement in delivery nationally,’ comments Professor Jones.
The deadline for data is currently the end of December 2018, to allow collated data to be submitted for an abstract at the BSG 2019 Conference
Those interested in taking part should contact Professor Jones on david.jones@newcastle.ac.uk