Arthritis: Children and Young People
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support children and young people with arthritis.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
The Government is committed to supporting children and young people with arthritis to ensure they get timely, quality care.
Services for children with suspected arthritis are commissioned in line with the national service specification for paediatric rheumatology services.
The national service specification helps to reduce waiting times for diagnosis by mandating clear referral pathways and rapid access to specialist paediatric rheumatology teams. It sets national standards requiring timely triage of suspected cases, prioritisation of urgent referrals, and availability of multidisciplinary expertise for early assessment. The specification ensures consistency across regions, minimises delays caused by local variation, and supports faster initiation of diagnostic tests and treatment planning.
NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Paediatric Rheumatology programme is aimed at improving care for children and young people with inflammatory, autoimmune, and rheumatic conditions. Led by specialists, it uses data-driven, "deep-dive" peer reviews of all National Health Service trusts to reduce unwarranted variations, improve transition services, and standardise best practice.
Additionally, the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitments to expand community diagnostic centres for quicker access to tests, introduce digital tools to support early symptom monitoring and triage, and improve the integration between primary care and specialist services will further streamline referral pathways and ensure children receive timely assessment and treatment.
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