Arthritis: Health Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) diagnosis times and (b) access to care for people with inflammatory arthritis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). The Department expects MSK services to be fully incorporated into integrated care system planning and decision-making.
As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. Launched in December 2024, with 17 ICBs selected in the first cohort, GIRFT teams have deployed their proven Further Faster model to work with ICB leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with arthritis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. The GIRFT programme is continuing to develop the approach to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high-quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future.
To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis, which is available at the following link:
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