Rheumatology colleagues secure place on national 'aspiring to excellence' programme to help deliver best outcomes for patients
Rheumatology patients at UHDB are set to benefit from national best practice after colleagues successfully applied to be a part of a national 'Aspiring to Excellence' programme to improve treatment and awareness of axial spondyloarthritis (axial SpA).
The programme, which is led by the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS) in association with The British Society for Spondyloarthritis (BRITSpA), brings rheumatology teams from across the country together to share best practice and work on quality improvement projects to drive developments in the treatment and diagnosis of axial SpA - a type of inflammatory arthritis that most commonly affects the spine but also affects other joints, tendons and organs.
Colleagues from the Trust form part of the fourth cohort of the Aspiring to Excellence programme, and have already embarked on the first 'day' of the programme, meeting with rheumatology colleagues from across the NHS and beginning work on their own improvement projects.
Chloë Kirk, Senior Physiotherapist based at the Florence Nightingale Community Hospital, said the programme is already proving beneficial with the team keen to see how their project will develop.
She said: "So far, it has been extremely useful and has given us an amazing opportunity to work with multi-disciplinary and quality improvement leaders and clinicians to help take our project forward with the aim of making a tangible difference to our service, improving effectiveness and being truly patient-centred."
Axial SpA is a painful and progressive condition, with the onset of symptoms beginning at the average age of 26-years-old and is treated using anti-inflammatory medications and tailored physiotherapy. As it is an inflammatory condition, it can cause permanent damage to the body, but it can be difficult to diagnose and latest figures estimate the average time to diagnosis is more than eight years.
Dr Francis Kynaston-Pearson, Consultant Rheumatologist, said this delay to diagnosis can be problematic, but that the team is working hard to raise awareness of the condition and reduce delays in addition to providing a more rounded treatment package to patients.
He explained: "We see quite a lot of patients with axial SpA but their presentation and main problematic symptoms are variable. We are working hard to take a more holistic approach to our care for these patients, including helping with their fatigue management, activity and exercises to help reduce symptoms, as well as supporting with work, childcare, and other things the condition can have a big impact on.
"This is why UHDB being a part of the Aspiring to Excellence programme is so important - the more we can do to help these patients manage their condition, the better their outcomes will be which could lead to living a life in considerably less discomfort with fewer subsequent complications, such as time taken off work. I'm really proud of the team for securing a place on the programme and for the work they've all already done."
Colleagues from our Derby sites are working on a project analysing their review clinic and multi-disciplinary working in line with national guidelines to maximise the management of the condition, while colleagues from our Burton team are looking at their axial SpA service as a whole - with the two teams working together to ensure patients across both areas receive an equitable service in line with the needs of the population.
Chloë added: "This is really reassuring for patients with axial SpA as it gives us as their clinicians invaluable expertise and training to deliver quality care. The skills and training are all transferable across the multi-disciplinary team and will help us to continue to develop our whole Rheumatology services.
"In a busy NHS environment, it's so important for us as clinicians to get time to focus and enable us to deliver patient care that is effective and efficient but also sustainable by embedding processes throughout our service, which can be built on in the years to come."