Debbie Cook, Chief Executive at NASS, has been a member of the Guideline Development Group working with NICE for over two years, particularly giving the patients’ perspective. The NICE Guideline for Spondyloarthritis was issued at the end of February 2017.
NASS welcome this Guideline. We will be working hard to promote it and to ensure the recommendations contained within it are taken on board. You can read it in full on the NICE website.
Dr John Hunter, Consultant Rheumatologist at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
NASS launched our first ever Patients’ Choice awards in 2016 to mark our 40th anniversary.
Our Members voted for the health professionals who made a difference to their AS. Most of the awards were presented at our Parliamentary reception in Westminster in November 2016.
But one of the most important awards remained, and on Tuesday 1 March Debbie Cook attended the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Conditions to present the NASS Patients’ Choice You Changed My Life award. The award went to:
Dr John Hunter, Consultant Rheumatologist at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Prescription Charges Coalition Survey
The Prescription Charges Coalition has launched a new survey looking at the ways in which prescription charges affect the lives of people in England with long-term conditions.
At the moment, people in England with long term conditions who work have to pay for their medicines, because the list of illnesses that qualify for free prescriptions is limited and out of date. We know that these costs can be a barrier to people taking their medication as prescribed, which can have serious consequences for their health. The Prescription Charges Coalition are campaigning for all people with long-term conditions to receive free prescriptions.
Please encourage your members to take part in the survey.