Salford Professor Joins Parliamentary Meeting to Shape NHS 10-Year Plan for Axial SpA and Rheumatology

The meeting focused on addressing longstanding delays in the diagnosis and treatment of axial spondyloarthritis (axial SpA) by aligning care with the NHS 10-Year Plan’s key priorities.

Discussions highlighted the importance of moving care closer to communities, ensuring accessible tests, scans, treatments, and therapies are delivered nearer to where people live. This approach supports healthier, more independent lives while reducing hospital stays and easing pressure on secondary care.

The meeting also emphasised the need to leverage technology for better diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment and to focus on prevention, enabling earlier detection and addressing root causes of ill health.

The roundtable discussed how axial SpA care could serve as a model for managing broader musculoskeletal conditions, demonstrating the potential for improved outcomes and systemic benefits when these strategic shifts are implemented.

Yeliz’s involvement in this pivotal discussion aligns closely with her work on the £2.5 million NIHR-funded project, Improving the Diagnosis and Early Referral of Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis (IDEAL).

Collaboratively delivered by the University of Salford, the University of Nottingham, and Keele University, this six-year project, launched in January, aims to recruit across 90 GP practices in the UK. The team is developing an innovative tool for GP computer systems to support clinical decision-making and ensure timely referrals to specialists. The project will assess the tool’s impact on reducing diagnostic delays and improving patient wellbeing.

Picture caption: Left to right below are Dr Dale Webb (CEO of NASS), Professor Yeliz Prior and Sarah Campbell (CEO of the British Society for Rheumatology)