UK reform essential in care of people with arthritis
Widespread reform is needed to enable high quality care planning for people in the UK with long-term conditions, such as arthritis, says a Health Committee report. The settings discussed include home, hospitals and specialist care.
Services for rheumatology patients should be maintained across all settings and cannot simply be moved into the community, according to evidence submitted to the Health Committee by The British Society for Rheumatology. The report reads:
“While the prevailing assumption may be that people with long-term conditions would welcome treatment being provided through community or primary care as close to home as possible, this approach should not be taken for granted in the design of systems to support the management of long-term conditions. Many conditions will continue to require treatment to be provided in specialised secondary care settings.”
Other challenges to providing care for those with long-term conditions detailed within the report include:
- System pricing incentives
- Clinical approaches to multiple comorbidities
- The evolution of health professional training and education.
Prof Simon Bowman, president of the British Society for Rheumatology comments:
“The British Society for Rheumatology views the publication of this report as a valuable step in raising awareness of long-term conditions, and we support the Committee’s view that government departments should work together to tackle the issue of long-term conditions management in a strategic way, and with the involvement of patients, clinicians and other stakeholders embedded throughout.”
