Arthritis News | ARMA

Royal College of GPs and EDS toolkit

by Ehlers-Danlos Support UK

We were very disappointed to be told just before Christmas that the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) wanted to withdraw the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) toolkit for GPs. The College planned to remove the toolkit from the RCGP website at the end of January. The RCGP cited pressure on its limited resources as a result of the pandemic and contention around the toolkit from various sources as reasons for its decision. While we understood that the College wanted to prioritise use of its resources, the move would have been a huge backwards step for people with EDS and related conditions.…

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NHFD Annual Report

The challenge of the next decade: are hip fracture services ready?

The National hip Fracture Database (NHFD) has recently released its latest annual report focussing on the six NHFD key performance indicators used to monitor and drive up standards across the country. 2020 will no doubt prove to be one of the most challenging years in the history of the NHS. This report also presents the first data about the effect of COVID-19 on trauma units around the country and on outcome for patients with hip fracture who have COVID-19 when admitted to hospital or develop it after their operation.…

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NICE to develop Interventional Procedures Guidance

NICE is developing Interventional Procedures Guidance: Supercapsular percutaneously assisted total hip arthroplasty for osteoarthritis IP1842.

Hip osteoarthritis can cause pain, stiffness and difficulty walking. Standard surgery to replace the joint (total hip arthroplasty) involves cutting tendons and muscles and pulling the hip joint apart to insert the new metal joint. In this procedure, a small cut is made in the skin (percutaneous). Muscles and tendons are moved apart to access the hip joint. A metal joint is inserted without fully pulling the hip joint apart (supercapsular).…

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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 3^rd April 2022: Document updated to include latest JCVI and NHSE guidance regarding spring 2022 boosters (see section 22)

Amendment 3^rd 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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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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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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FSEM Statement on Long Covid clinics

The Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine (UK) has published a statement on the role SEM consultants can play in new NHS long Covid rehabilitation clinics being set up in England.

Read the statement here.

Sport and Exercise as the Elixir of Life: A webinar with Sir Muir Gray

Recently, FSEM (UK) and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine presented an inspiration seminar by Sir Muir Gray on the importance of physical activity.

You can watch the webinar on demand here.