Improving services for people with rheumatoid arthritis:
national conference
Tuesday 8 December
2009, Inmarsat Conference Centre,
London EC1
The conference has now finished, but videos
and transcripts of the conference sessions are available via this
page.
Conference Summary
The National Audit Office report
Services for people and rheumatoid arthritis highlights
the importance of early identification and diagnosis of rheumatoid
arthritis. It also highlights better integration and coordination
of services, access to holistic care, support to remain in or
return to employment and ensuring patient centred services that
support self-management of the condition.
Improvement in these areas would
provide better value for money, better outcomes for patients and
lead to productivity gains for the economy. Some of the systemic
improvements needed to manage rheumatoid arthritis also apply to
other long-term conditions requiring specialist-led care.
The conference brought together senior
policy makers, academics, clinicians and major stakeholder
organisations.
Among the attendees
were:
- Department of Health and National Health Service policy makers
for long-term conditions
- Principal Care Trust commissioners
- Strategic Health Authority leads for long-term conditions
- Personalised budget leads
- Department for Work and Pensions back to work leads
- Directors of finance
- Rheumatoid arthritis practitioners
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Orthopaedic teams
- Occupational health professionals
- Physiotherapists
- Pain management services
- Support groups
- Patients/self-management groups
- Academics
- Third sector providers
- Pharmaceutical companies
- Private sector providers of products and services for
rheumatoid arthritis
Speakers included:
- Dame Carol Black DBE, National Clinical
Director for Health and Work
- David Amess MP, Chair of the All-Party
Parliamentary Group on Inflammatory Arthritis
- Stephen Johnson, Deputy Director - Long Term
Conditions, Department of Health
- Karen Taylor OBE, Director of Health Value for Money, National
Audit Office
- Professor Alan Silman, Medical Director, Arthritis Research
Campaign
- Dr Chris Deighton, Chairman of Clinical Affairs, British
Society of Rheumatology