Examining the safety of relaxed drug monitoring for methotrexate in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: This is a retrospective study that set out to assess the safety, feasibility and cost savings of temporary relaxed blood test monitoring for patients on MTX under the rheumatology service that was rolled out during the coronavirus pandemic.

Methods: This is a single-centre study that reviewed the blood tests of all patients who received an MTX prescription from the trust between December 2019 and November 2020. After the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, the blood testing intervals and findings were analysed and collated.