Rheumatology services across the UK under huge pressure outlines new report

The major challenges facing rheumatology services and the patients they serve are captured in a new report from the British Society for Rheumatology, along with a raft of measures to address them at a national and local level.
Over 2,000 members of the British Society for Rheumatology were surveyed, a diverse range of healthcare professionals including rheumatologists, nurses, allied health professionals and GPs. And a series of focus groups ensured the voices of clinicians and patients were heard too.

Key findings
• 80% felt that rheumatology services were no better now than in 2010 when there was a national audit highlighting deficiencies;
• 66% rated their relationship with primary care colleagues as five out of ten or below, with poor communication and lack of GP condition awareness as main factors;
• 90% felt that training on early identification of symptoms should be spread to a wider range of healthcare professionals;
• 60% reported their units were experiencing significant recruitment gaps across all professions.
And the demand for rheumatology services is growing. Pressure on demand for rheumatology increased by 25% over the past four years. Waiting lists for rheumatology services in England grew by 32% in three years (almost twice the national average of 18%). Services managed to keep average waiting times for treatment to four weeks although this still falls short of NICE standards of three weeks for rheumatoid arthritis.

The British Society for Rheumatology outlines 15 key challenges that need to be addressed and these include:
• Prioritisation of personalised, care and support plans for all patients with long term conditions;
• Review of medicines approval processes, to improve access to biologics for all patients including those at the mild stage of the disease and those with rarer conditions;
• Acceleration of best practice in care-coordination across the NHS through specialist nurses;
• Greater recognition of rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders in national strategies;
• Expansion of training to identify early onset of rheumatic conditions to a wider range of health professionals including GPs, practice nurses, community nurses and pharmacists;
• Local investment in patient education and self-management programmes for people with long term conditions, in line with NICE guidance.

Prof Simon Bowman, president of the British Society for Rheumatology, comments:
“Despite the pressures facing services in recent years in terms of rising demand, drives for efficiencies and diminishing resources, our members have managed to maintain the highest standards of care for their patients. However, they have also made it clear that so much more could be achieved if they and their patients were given the proper support to develop services. This report reinforces the need for collaboration over competition in the health service. Whether it’s collaboration between healthcare professional and patient, closer working across professional boundaries or better co-ordination between care settings, patients will only ever benefit from a more collaborative approach.”

Click here to read the full report.

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Image credit Kate Ter Haar