Introduction Aligned to the 2019 IBD Standards, IBD UK developed a national Benchmarking Tool comprising a Service Self-Assessment for healthcare professionals and a Patient Survey. The aim was to qualify current local service performance to facilitate future quality improvement.

Methods The IBD Patient Survey ran from 8/7/19–22/11/19, and predominantly focussed on patient experience in the preceding 12 months. The Service Self-Assessment ran from 1/10/19–31/1/20. Estimates were encouraged where formal audit data was not available.

Results 10222 patients and 166 IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) services (134 adult, 32 paediatric) completed the tools. Services cared for a median of 2000 adult (IQR 1400-3500) or 165 paediatric (IQR 100-280) patients. 38% (12/32) of paediatric and 21% (28/134) adult services saw >90% of patients with suspected IBD within 4 weeks of referral. 54% (1133/2104) of recently diagnosed patients felt what mattered to them was taken into account when making decisions about treatment and care. During a flare 77% (127/166) of services reported being able to respond to >90% of patients contacting the IBD service advice line by the end of the next working day. 61% (6174/10071) of patients reported having contacted their IBD service advice line. When admitted to hospital 54% (89/166) of services reported >90% of patients were seen within 24 hours of admission by an IBD specialist on a gastroenterology ward. For elective surgery 69% (114/166) of services reported waiting times of <18 weeks. 84% (8486/10052) of patients had contact with an IBD nurse specialist. 42% (4036/9677) of patients believed their care to be well-coordinated between their GP and gastroenterologist. 30% (3021/9943) of patients discussed wider life goals and priorities as part of planning their care. 79% (7658/9691) of patients reported a lack of opportunities to feedback on their care. The proportion of adult multidisciplinary teams meeting the IBD Standards WTE (Whole Time Equivalent) staffing recommendations were gastroenterologists 31%; colorectal surgeons 16%; IBD nurse specialists 14%; pharmacists 13%; dietitians 7%; and psychologists 2%; and radiologists 79%.

Conclusions The IBD UK Benchmarking Tool provides location-matched service performance and patient experience data. To support and measure impact of quality improvement, the Tool will be repeated longitudinally.