The Arthritis Revolution in Cheltenham

Gloucestershire Arthritis Trust (GAT) is part of the “Arthritis Revolution” in Cheltenham.

Welcome to the “Arthritis Revolution” that is happening in patient care at Cheltenham General Hospital. The revolutionary approach is aimed at getting between 800 and 1,000 patients a year home much quicker after hip or knee replacement surgery.

Challenged by NHS England in mid-2023 to reduce the Length of Stay for knee and hip replacement surgery from an average of more than 100 hours to a new target of 65 hours, a multidisciplinary team from 13 medical disciplines managed to achieve an average, for all patients, of just 31 hours.…

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ramble4rhuem walk exceeds its target

The Gloucestershire Arthritis Trust would like to congratulate those from the Gloucestershire NHS Rheumatology team who undertook a sponsored walk on Sunday 24th September 2023.

Their successful “ramble4rhuem” campaign had the aim of supporting the Gloucestershire Arthritis Trust, who in turn support the Rheumatology nursing staff with Study Grants. The eight-strong team, which included a couple of Physiotherapists and a Consultant, undertook a 21-mile walk around the Stroud Five Valleys and raised £3,545 against their £2,000 target.

GAT Study grants for rheumatology repaid by sponsored walk

fundraisingThe Gloucestershire Arthritis Trust (GAT) has agreed to fund study grants for the Gloucestershire NHS Rheumatology Team aimed at the professional educational development of the nursing team to enable them to provide the most evidence-based and up-to-date care for patients. In the past year they have supported nurses to attend an Injection training course organised by the University of the West of England and the two-day British Society of Rheumatology conference in Manchester.

In return, the nurses are undertaking a 21-mile sponsored walk in late September with a target of £2,000 which GAT will set aside for the upcoming year’s Study Grants.…

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NRAS #WearPurpleForJIA – Wellbeing week

The last year has been a difficult one for most children so NRAS will be having a #WearPurpleForJIA Wellbeing Week on 14th-18th June. Each day during the week children and young people with JIA will be offered wellbeing classes including art, yoga, photography, dance and a relaxation/mental health class. In the evenings NRAS is hosting Facebook Live sessions discussing all things JIA and one where the children can ask the healthcare professionals questions.

It would be lovely to have you all involved to help raise awareness that children and young people can get arthritis too.…

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Joint Action Christmas Appeal

It’s been a year like no other, and while much of the world’s attention has been focused on the disease COVID-19, the needs of people with musculoskeletal disease have not gone away and sadly in many cases the need has grown. We know that thousands of people across the UK have experienced long waits for surgery and cancellations of other medical appointments. The British Orthopaedic Association has continued to focus on the needs of these patients, and Joint Action, its research appeal, is forging ahead with ambitious plans for 2021 to award new grants.…

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HMSA’s Four Nations Survey via Genetic Alliance

With a new strategy, “Driving progress: genetic, rare and undiagnosed”, the HMSA is committed to examining their impact within the four nations of the UK in order to build a plan that ensures they are truly a UK-wide organisation. The first step is to build a picture of how HMSA members currently operate across the UK. There has been a good response the survey; next the aim is to provide more engagement and opportunities for staff and volunteers.

Giving GPs the Tools

The HMSA’s current GP campaign is part of their work to improve professionals’ awareness and education so they’re able to more quickly identify those people presenting with hypermobility related disorders.…

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Support ARMA and increase your MSK health

The Fit4Change app converts miles to money for charities, giving an extra incentive to take regular physical activity that will improve your MSK health. You can use it for running, walking, cycling and exercising indoors.

Just download the Fit4Change app to your phone, select Arthritis and Musc Alliance as your chosen charity, remember to start before you begin your activity and finish at the end, and the app does the rest. It’s a simple way to support our work – just remember to start the app whenever you start your activity.

Portsmouth ARMA spring newsletter and Easter events

The spring edition of the Portsmouth Hospitals’ Department of Rheumatology newsletter is out.

It contains dates and details of a number of upcoming events, groups and meetings, including:

  • Funky Knit Day, a knitting event to raise awareness of Raynauds, 07 Feb 2018 – see the poster
  • Portsmouth Cream Tea & Light Music event, 4 March 2018 – see the poster
  • Portsmouth Easter Tea Dance, 24 March 2018 – see the poster

For more, open and save the spring newsletter (in PDF) here.

RA awareness week 2017

Once more NRAS has had a very successful RA awareness week with thousands getting involved in the #behindthesmile campaign. Over 500 awareness packs were sent out in the post and there have been over 1,700 downloads of the posters and infographics from the website.

Our thunderclap went live on the first day of the week and surpassed our target, reaching over 175,000 people, and our RA awareness week frame was used by 2,000 people on Facebook and Twitter.

Click to open the full-size the Behind-the-smile NRAS team photo.…

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Lupus Knows No Boundaries e-Report published by World Lupus Federation

On World Lupus Day (May 10th) the “Lupus Knows No Boundaries e-Report,” which has been co-created by the World Lupus Federation and Glaxosmithkline (GSK), was published.

The report brings together first-hand experiences of people with lupus, their advocates and those who treat them. It tells the real story of lupus, highlighting the ongoing physical and emotional needs of those who are affected by this incurable disease.

The report can be downloaded from the LUPUS UK website at  www.lupusuk.org.uk/world-lupus-day-report/.…

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