About the Audit

The National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit (NEIAA) is commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership and is carried out by the British Society for Rheumatology with support from King's College London and Athera Healthcare.

NEIAA collects information on all patients over the age of 16 years seen in rheumatology departments in England and Wales with a new confirmed diagnosis of Early Inflammatory Arthritis, Connective Tissue Disease (CTD) and Systemic Vasculitis. In doing so, NEIAA aims to improve the quality of care for people living with rheumatic diseases.

The performance of individual healthcare providers is measured against the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standard [QS33] ‘rheumatoid arthritis in over 16s’. Quality statement two (QS2) of this quality standard is used for outlier analysis, as described in our outlier policy. Outlier status is attributed to any unit whose performance against QS2 is three standard deviations or greater below the national mean. Units are also treated as an outlier if they are identified as a non-participant.

The audit is mandatory for all rheumatology departments in England and Wales. Participation provides an opportunity to contribute to an important national audit which seeks to improve the quality of care for patients living with rheumatic diseases.

What the Audit Measures

Rheumatology clinical teams provide information about patient care over the first 3 months after diagnosis. This includes details on:

• Referral times

• Time to treatment

• Clinical response to treatment

• Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) 

Data-entry Requirements

There are three clinical forms to complete. All patient and clinician forms can be found under Resources > Downloadable Questionnaires.

• Demographics, referral and diagnosis – completed at diagnosis for all patients aged > 16 years with confirmed Early Inflammatory Arthritis (EIA), Connective Tissue Disease (CTD) and Systemic Vasculitis.

• Clinical Baseline – completed at diagnosis for Rheumatoid Pattern Arthritis (clinician diagnosis) patients >16 years only (includes RA pattern of PsA).

• Three-month follow-up – completed after three months of specialist follow up for rheumatoid pattern arthritis (clinician diagnosis)patients >16 years only.

Patient Reported Outcome Measures

Patients participating in the audit provide input via Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) questionnaires. These help us to understand how patients are affected by their symptoms and how individual rheumatology departments are performing.

Patients respond to a series of questions on our patient website five times over the first 12 months of care – at diagnosis, after 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and then at one year after diagnosis. Patients entered by clinical teams into the audit are automatically emailed a secure link directing them to fill out the questionnaires as required.

Data Protection