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MSK & Arthritis News
RA disease not treated with advanced therapies
RA disease impact in patients not treated with advanced therapies; survey findings from the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society
by NRAS
Recently NICE published a Final Appraisal Document in respect of a new JAK inhibitor (filgotinib – Jyseleca) giving access to people with RA who have so called ‘moderate’ disease in addition to those with ‘severe’ disease. This is the first time NICE have broadened their eligibility criteria for access to advanced therapies and is warmly welcomed by NRAS. This comes at the same time as a paper published by the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (P.…
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COVID-19 vaccination and MSK
Principles for COVID-19 Vaccination in Musculoskeletal and Rheumatology for Clinicians
(Version 12, 12 September 2022)
Amendment 12th September 2022: Document updated to include latest JCVI and NHSE guidance regarding autumn boosters using second generation bivalent COVID-19 vaccines and results of VROOM study (see section 23 and section 24 respectively)
Amendment 3rd April 2022: Document updated to include latest JCVI and NHSE guidance regarding spring 2022 boosters (see section 22)
Amendment 3rd December 2021: Document updated to include latest JCVI guidance regarding boosters for patients who were eligible for a third primary dose (see end of section 21)
Amendment 13 October 2021: Document updated to include revised BSR wording about third primary dose (section 20).…
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Making Moves with Didy Veldman, leading International Choreographer
Recently, NRAS members who signed up took part in a dance and movement programme for people living with RA with leading International Choreographer, Didy Feldman, over Zoom, with Didy leading from the Royal Ballet School.
Dutch-born Didy Veldman trained as a ballet and contemporary dancer in Amsterdam. She danced professionally for fourteen years and began choreographing in 1987. She has created new works nationally and internationally for Birmingham Royal Ballet, Rambert Dance Company, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the Royal Ballet School in London, to name but a few.…
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The new NRAS Young Persons Project Co-Ordinator
by Debbie Wilson, NRAS
I am the new Young Persons Project Co-Ordinator at NRAS. I come to this role with a very personal experience of JIA. I have had JIA nearly all my life and a few years ago my daughter was diagnosed with it too. Thankfully, due to medical advances, the disease can be easier to manage. Unfortunately, some things have not changed: mainly the lack of understanding and awareness of JIA. There is still the stigma of having JIA and I was quite shocked that my daughter got the same comments I used to get, such as: “my granny has that”; “that’s an old person’s disease”; “you are too young to get arthritis.”…
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Joint Action Christmas appeal
Thank you to everyone for donating to the Joint Action Christmas Appeal this year; currently you and Joint Action donors have raised £8,000!
If you haven’t already and would like to donate to the Joint Action Christmas Appeal and help raise funds for trauma and orthopaedic research, you can donate online via Justgiving.
It’s been a year like no other, and while much of the world’s attention has been focused on COVID-19, the needs of people with musculoskeletal diseases have not gone away and sadly in many cases the need has grown.…
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BOA Position statement on waiting times
Facts and figures from the British Orthopaedic Association on reduced operating times and increasing waiting times during 2020 are available here.
BOA Annual Congress 2021 – SAVE THE DATE
Under the theme of ‘Tackling Infection,’ the 2021 Congress will take place 21-24 September at P&J Live, The Event Complex Aberdeen (TECA). The BOA is currently working on the Congress programme, which will be released in early 2021.
If you or your colleagues are not currently BOA members and are planning to attend the next BOA Annual Congress, they will need to become a BOA member no later than Monday 1st March 23:59 to receive the 100% discount during the members Early Bird period!…
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CEO update: Promoting MSK health
The incidence of MSK conditions, particularly neck and shoulder pain, has gone up during the pandemic. This represents a significant amount of pain that would not have happened without the pandemic changing the way we live and work. Which got me wondering how much of the pre-pandemic MSK conditions would have been preventable.
MSK ill-health represents many thousands of lives impacted and restricted by pain and poor mobility. However great the services we have, prevention is the better option where possible.…
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Introducing the new Young Voices panel
In May last year, NRAS began recruiting young people to a special advisory board to act as the voice of young people living with JIA and RA. The aim was for the board to help inform NRAS on how to develop their services for teenagers, young adults, and parents of children with JIA.
They are an inspirational group of young people and even through the difficult times of living with JIA and RA they have all learnt how to thrive. 
At the first meeting in June, they decided to name themselves the “Young Voices” to reflect their role in raising awareness of the issues affecting young people living with these chronic conditions. …
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NRAS launch a brand new website
NRAS is very excited to announce their brand new website has gone live. A lot of work has gone into development, implementation and design, ensuring an improvement in how NRAS provides information to their members, supporters and the wider rheumatoid arthritis (RA) community.
The latest NRAS publications, updates and activities can be a huge support for those who need it. A priority for NRAS and an expectation from those they support is an easy-to-navigate, user friendly, informational website. This is the way the Society is found by most people.…
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