Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are his Department taking to ensure NHS staff can recognise rheumatological symptoms and ensure urgent referral to rheumatology services.

The Royal College of General Practitioners has produced e-learning modules on a number of musculoskeletal (MSK) and rheumatic conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis, and axial spondyloarthritis, which are designed to help general practitioners and other primary care professionals recognise the symptoms of these conditions.

Additionally, to support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of different rheumatological conditions, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance on rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and spondyloarthritis, with guidance for all three available, respectively, at the following three links:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng226

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng65

The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Rheumatology has made recommendations on the diagnosis and management of a range of rheumatic and MSK disorders and will support the National Health Service to deliver care more equitably across the country and closer to patients’ homes, and to improve services nationally. The GIRFT National Speciality Report included a number of recommendations designed to help support patients with non-inflammatory MSK conditions to be cared for in primary and community settings, freeing up capacity for those who need it to have urgent referrals to outpatient rheumatology services.