We work in partnership with commercial clients, patients, professional organisations and the NHS to improve pathways throughout the patient healthcare journey. Here is an example of work we have done with one of our commercial clients in dermatology, seeking to highlight current issues in delivering psoriasis care in England and the urgent need for change in the current care pathway.

What is psoriasis?

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease of the skin and one in four patients with psoriasis also develop psoriatic arthritis.¹ These conditions can range from minor irritations to considerable impact on quality of life, employment, productivity and income.^2,3 Psoriasis occurs when the immune system sends faulty signals that cause the skin cells to grow too quickly. Symptoms are characterised by thick red scaling skin that can cause itching.

The challenge in psoriasis care

GPs are the first clinician most patients see about skin problems, but few receive formal dermatology training and some medical school curriculums exclude this specialty. Dermatology thus has a high rate of referrals to specialist care, particularly for diagnosis, and patients often spend years cycling through ineffective therapies before receiving appropriate treatment. These issues have been exacerbated by the reduced workforce, lengthy waiting lists and large backlogs due to COVID-19.

References

1. Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Alliance. What is psoriasis? Available at: https://www.papaa.org/learn-about-psoriasis-and-psoriatic-arthritis/just-diagnosed/what-is-psoriasis (accessed November 2023).

2. Psoriasis Association & LEO Pharma (2019) Wake up to psoriasis.

3. All-Party Parliamentary Group on Skin. Mental health and skin disease. Available at: www.appgs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Mental_Health_and_Skin_Disease2020.pdf   (accessed November 2023).

Interested in Examples from dermatology?

For more information contact us at advisory@hsjinformation.co.uk