GIRFT has welcomed the launch of a new playbook from the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS) designed to support healthcare professionals to implement actions which can reduce the time to diagnosis in their area and improve the patient experience.
Axial spondyloarthritis (axial SpA) is an inflammatory arthritis where the main symptom is back pain. One in 200 of the adult population in the UK have axial SpA (AS), twice as many as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, and symptoms typically start in the late teens to early 20s, with the average age of onset being 26.
GIRFT is among the co-badging organisations of the new playbook, which brings together key learnings from NASS’s Act on Axial SpA campaign and is closely aligned to GIRFT’s national best practice pathway for axial spondyloarthritis. It also utilises tools from GIRFT’s Further Faster handbook for rheumatology.
Dr Lesley Kay, National Clinical Director for musculoskeletal conditions with NHS England and GIRFT joint clinical lead for rheumatology, wrote the foreword for the playbook.
“I am delighted to see this playbook launched which represents a further development of the work between GIRFT and NASS towards the shared aim of improving access to the right care for people with axial spondyloarthritis. I hope that primary, community and rheumatology teams now use this resource to review their own services.”
“We are thrilled that we are able to deliver such an important tool to support health care professionals around the country to reduce the time to diagnosis.”
NASS is now developing a suite of materials to help with implementation of the playbook, including an online tutorial giving guidance on how to use the tool.
