All Party Parliamentary Group for Axial Spondyloarthritis

What is an APPG?

All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal cross-party groups that meet, relatively informally, to discuss a particular issue of concern. Groups are made up of parliamentarians from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Whilst APPGs have no formal place in the legislature, they are an effective way of bringing together parliamentarians and interested parties to help highlight a topic and the opportunities that exist for improving outcomes in the area. APPGs allow campaign groups, charities, and other non-governmental organisations active in the field to become involved in discussions and influence politicians.

Where is covered by an APPG?

It does vary, but as health is a devolved power in the UK, this APPG will only cover England. We will however carry out many of the same activities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but they will not be under the auspices of the APPG.

Why an APPG for Axial Spondyloarthritis?

In 2017 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published the first ever guideline for the diagnosis and management of spondyloarthritis, followed soon after by an accompanying Quality Standard. This was a huge step forward for the treatment of axial SpA (AS), but there was nothing in place to actually oversee their implementation. Following feedback from discussions with parliamentarians about this challenge, NASS took the step of establishing an APPG that could help to maximise the visibility of this important new guidance and support its implementation across the country. The APPG for Axial SpA will run in the first instance for a time limited period of 2 years.

Who are the officers?

Tom Randall, Conservative, Gedling  (Chair)

Lord Campbell-Savours, Labour, Life Peer (Co-Chair)

Lord Shinkwin, Conservative, Life Peer (Vice Chair)

Munira Wilson, Liberal Democrats, Twickenham (Vice Chair)

Who are the members?

Olivia Blake, Labour, Sheffield Hallam

Dr Rupa Huq, Labour, Acton and Ealing Central

Kerry McCarthy, Labour, Bristol East

Lia Nici, Conservative, Great Grimsby

Andy Slaughter, Labour, Hammersmith

Derek Thomas MP, Conservative, West Cornwall and the Scilly Isles

 

Meetings

Meeting 1: The impact of delayed diagnosis and the opportunities for improving outcomes (March 2019)

Meeting 2: Assessing the uptake of key NICE Guidance for Axial SpA (AS) (July 2019)

Meeting 3: The Delay to Diagnosis – what are the solutions? (January 2020)

Meeting 4: COVID-19 and Axial SpA (July 2020)

Meeting 5: Hydrotherapy: Exploring provision and impriving access (November 2020)

Meeting 6- Axial SpA and Mental Health: Assessing the Relationship & Identifying Opportunities for Improvement (April 2021)

Meeting 7: Axial SpA and Primary Care: Improving identification and onward referral (October 2021)

Meeting 8: Rheumatology Physiotherapy (May 2022)

Meeting 9: Reflecting on the current ‘state of the nation’ in Axial SpA (October 2022)

Meeting 10: Gender inequalities in axial SpA diagnosis, care and outcomes (April 2023)

Meeting 11: One year on from the establishment of Integrated Care Systems

Contact

You can contact the secretariat for the APPG, which is managed by M&F Health, by emailing appgspa@mandfhealth.com or by emailing Jill Hamilton on jill@nass.co.uk.

The APPG is supported Novartis and UCB. Novartis and UCB have no editorial involvement in developing content. 

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