Winner
Live Multisite National IBD Meeting
Summary of work
Steroids are commonly prescribed to induce remission during flares in ulcerative colitis (UC). Research shows that steroid use is associated with serious adverse events. An independent UK audit showed excessive steroid use in 43% of patients with active ulcerative colitis (UC). A new approach – the ‘treat-to-target’ (T2T) clinical management strategy – was developed in 2015 and supports reducing excess steroid use and appropriate escalation of treatment to optimise outcomes. This prompted a UK Steering Committee of Gastroenterology KOLs to develop an agenda for a national meeting to provide education around excess steroid use and potential management strategies. Pre-meeting only 51% of delegates would consider the extent of previous steroid use when making treatment or management decisions and only 33.1% of delegates confirmed they T2T by monitoring symptoms and inflammation markers following a flare in symptoms. Through state-of-the-art technology, the meeting was live broadcast between four main sites with four additional satellite hubs to view the meeting live one-way. This secured a broader range of faculty including local speakers to tailor each meeting to the local needs whilst maintaining a National KOL lead faculty with the unity and credibility of a -stand-alone event. The meeting exceeded its objectives with over 250 registered delegates; 70% of delegates post-meeting stating they would now consider previous steroid use (an increase of 21%), and 96% agreed or strongly agreed that the meeting improved their understanding on T2T in clinical practice. Additionally, post-meeting ten centres across the UK developed new service pathways including steroid guidance.
Judges’ comments
All they could say is wow! This really was the complete package. The entry ticked all the boxes and was really well considered and executed. Sciterion and AbbVie addressed a challenging, important, unmet need, which was really impressive.
