ARMA4Thursday November 2007
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ARMA 2007 Survey of Rheumatology Units
In 2007 ARMA conducted a survey of 105 rheumatology units in England in response to various reports of substantial changes in musculoskeletal services, including the provision of specialist rheumatology care. The survey was designed to identify what factors are influencing changes in services and the degree to which they are taking place.
Key findings
• Despite growth in recent years, the rheumatology workforce is predicted to shrink by 20% by January 2008, making it 8% smaller than it was in 2005 and seriously undermining the ability for service users to access high quality multi-disciplinary teams.
• There are significant reductions in service provision, with around half of the units surveyed citing pressure to reduce follow-ups and decrease referrals.
• There is a significant reduction in secondary care rheumatology services matched by increasing contracting from community provision.
• The private sector is becoming increasingly involved in service provision.
• Two thirds of hospital trusts are discussing future service design with local PCTs, but involvement of professionals, patients and the public in these discussions is poor.
To see the whole report, click here:
ARMA summary report.pdf
EULAR Edgar Stene Prize Essay Competition
ARMA recently coordinated the essay competition for the UK entrant to the EULAR Stene Prize. The Stene Prize is a European-wide, bi-annual competition for a prize of 2000 Euros and a trip to the EULAR Annual Congress. The prize is awarded to a person with arthritis or another musculoskeletal condition for the winning essay based on their experiences. The theme of 2007 competition was ‘The Small Things in Life Matter'.
This year's UK competition was a very successful one, with 25 entries. All the essays were of a very high calibre, making the judges' task very difficult. This year's judges were Ailsa Bosworth of the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, Kim Fligelstone of the Scleroderma Society, Kate Llewellyn of Arthritis Care, and Gillian Econopouly of ARMA. Many thanks to all the entrants and the judges for their participation.
Although all the entries were excellent, there can only be one winner.
This year's UK winner is Helen Saxon-Jones. Helen was born in Wrexham, North Wales in March 1977. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 1987 at 10 years old and started her surgical career at the age of 14 with hip replacements. She has gone on to have a total of 13 operations. In 2004, she married Neil, an Officer in the RAF. They have recently moved to Lincoln and bought their first house, which they share with their 2 dogs. Helen heard about the Edgar Stene prize through the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, where she is a volunteer. She also works as a civil service Admin Assistant. Congratulations to Helen!
Helen's essay is available below, along with other UK entries.
EULAR has now announced that the overall winner of the European competition is Lena Anderson, the entrant from Denmark. The competition next runs in 2009.
Please note that these essays are printed by kind permission of the authors; copyright remains with the author and any request to reprint any essay in whole or in part should be sent to ARMA, whereupon it will be forwarded to the author concerned.
WINNER Helen Saxon Jones.pdf
Christine Descombes.pdf
Dorothy Borbas.pdf Helen Arnold.pdf
Helga Shoebridge.pdf
Jill Holroyd.pdf
Julie McKechnie.pdf
Lorraine Pulford.pdf
Mandy Freeman.pdf
Miriam Quigley.pdf
Nila Patel.pdf
Penelope Parry.pdf
Penny Fisher.pdf
Peter Gaston.pdf
Robert Rees.pdf
Rosemary Cleaver.pdf
Shelley Giorgi.pdf
Kate Oakes.pdf
Latest ARMA/BSR survey indicates people with RA still unable to access anti-TNF-a therapy (June 2006) The latest survey of UK rheumatology units conducted by ARMA & BSR indicates that a significant number of people who meet the strict NICE eligibility criteria for the treatment face persistent problems in accessing it.
Twenty percent of rheumatology units contacted stated that they were unable to prescribe TNF-a inhibitors to every rheumatoid arthritis patient they identified as eligible in accordance with NICE guidance.
The top three barriers to prescribing were cited as:
- PCT has overspent and will not release funding (28%)
- PCT has not yet released funding (21%)
- Trust has allocated funding for the treatment, but lacks nursing support to deliver it (17%)
To see the whole report, click here: Key Findings Report - Final.pdf
Framework for the Future: Improving Health and Social Care for People with Musculoskeletal Conditions (November 2005)
The ARMA/Department of Health jointly sponsored conference, ‘Framework for the Future: Improving Health and Social Care for People with Musculoskeletal Conditions,’ was held on 9 November 2005 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London as the latest in ARMA’s series of Good Practice events
Bringing together 330 clinicians, allied health professionals, patients and patient groups in the UK’s largest cross-community musculoskeletal event to date, the day highlighted examples of innovative service provision and good practice in musculoskeletal health from around the country. The conference also looked at using ARMA’s Standards of Care and other national strategies for improving service provision and provided a forum for dialogue and expertise sharing across disciplines and different parts of the musculoskeletal community.
Presentations from the day are available via the links below.
Framework for the Future Seminar 1:
Care Outside Hospital – Arthritis Care Public Information Points
Framework for the Future Seminar 2:
Care Outside Hospital – Huntingdonshire PCT PhysioDirect Service
Framework for the Future Seminar 3:
Care at the Interface – Bath/NE Somerset PCT
Framework for the Future Seminar 4:
Care at the Interface – Stoke-on-Trent/North Staffordshire
Framework for the Future Seminar 5:
Care at the Interface – Southampton
Framework for the Future Seminar 6:
Care in Hospital – Morecambe Bay
Framework for the Future Seminar 7:
Care in Hospital – Nurse-led Clinics
Framework for the Future Seminar 8:
Self-management – Beyond the Expert Patient
Framework for the Future Seminar 10:
Monitoring and Evaluating Local Services
Framework for the Future Seminar 11:
Starting Young for Long-term Success – Commissioning Children and Young People’s Services
Framework for the Future Seminar 12:
Building the Extended Team
Framework for the Future Seminar 13:
Developing Care Pathways
Access to anti-TNFa - ARMA & BSR report highlights post-code prescribing (6 June 2005)
ARMA & BSR have published a new report highlighting ongoing problems for patients accessing anti-TNFa therapies, despite NICE guidance.
Health Minister Jane Kennedy, speaking on Radio 4's Today Programme in response to the survey, said patients "are being let down" because they are not being provided with anti-TNF a drugs they are entitled to.
148 consultant rheumatologists were asked whether they were able to prescribe anti-TNF a therapy to all rheumatoid arthritis patients they identified, in accordance with NICE (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) guidance, and if not what was the main barrier to prescription. 31% of rheumatologists were unable to prescribe for all patients they identified, with most saying that funding was the main barrier to prescription. Professor David Isenberg said that these results were "very disappointing", as they showed that no improvement had been made since the same survey was undertaken in 2003. The Minister stated that primary care organisations and strategic health authorities have a statutory duty to provide the treatments for people who qualify for them and that a lack of funding cannot be used as a reason for people not to get access to the treatments.
The report also revealed that a lack of NICE guidance was causing problems for consultants wanting to prescribe the therapies to people with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Only 42% of rheumatologists were able to prescribe the therapies to all AS patients they identified and only 53% to all PsA patients they identified in accordance with the British Society for Rheumatology guidelines.
It is clear that post-code prescribing continues to be a problem for people with RA, and is rife for people living with AS and PsA. The BSR and ARMA are calling on the Department of Health and primary care organisations to address the problems.
To see the whole Report click here:
[return to current news content]
Safety Concerns with Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) (June 2005)
For more information on the report published by the British published in the British Medical Journal, regarding safety concerns with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) ARMA recommends you contact Arthritis Care: http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk
or the British Society for Rheumatology: http://www.rheumatology.org.uk
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