Healthcare Professional Awareness

We are working to raise healthcare professional awareness of axial SpA (AS). Our biggest programme of work to date is due to launch in summer 2021 – read more about it here.

Primary Care

GP Awareness

GPs are the first port of call for anyone suffering with back pain. It’s estimated that up to a third of people will suffer from back pain in their lifetime but only 5% of these cases will be due to an underlying inflammatory arthritis. Axial SpA (AS) isn’t always easy to spot so we wanted to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms and highlight how it should be managed. We believe GP awareness and understanding is key to reducing delays to diagnosis.

From 2012 NASS ran a series of Back Pain Seminars, reaching 1,200 GPs. During this time we also produced our Meeting in a Box – a resource which could be used by those working in rheumatology to hold their own primary care  events. Axial SpA (AS) was also included as a ‘Hot Topic’ at NB Medical events around the country in 2012 and 2013, attended by 10,000 GPs.

First Contact Practitioners

First Contact Practitioners (FCPs) are a new in the world of primary care. Championed by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), FCPs are set to take on around 40% of casework from GPs over the next few years. They will come into play when people contact their GP for an appointment about a musculoskeletal condition (MSK) like axial SpA (AS).

The aim is to reduce inappropriate referrals to rheumatology, freeing up appointments and reducing waiting times. NASS is working with the CSP to reach the pilot areas looking at introducing FCPs to ensure that anyone who shows the signs of axial SpA (AS) is referred directly to rheumatology.

RCGP eLearning Module

NASS worked in partnership with the British Society for Spondyloarthritis (BRITSpA) to sponsor an eLearning module on axial SpA (AS) on the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) website. The module covers diagnosis and management. It was authored by Professor Karl Gaffney, Consultant Rheumatologist at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, and Dr Danny Murphy, who works as a rheumatologist at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, and as a GP in Devon.

This is available for free for members of the Royal College of GPs.

Rheumatology

We work closely with the British Society for Spondyloarthritis (BRITSpA) on many of our projects, as well as attending their annual conference and the British Society for Rheumatology Annual Conference. It is vitally important that we keep in regular contact with the rheumatology community to ensure that AS remains high on their agenda and they direct their patients to NASS.

We have also launched 2 rounds of our Aspiring to Excellence service improvement programme. You can read more about this here.

Physiotherapists

We work very closely with a group of physiotherapists who specialise in axial SpA (AS) called AStretch, ensuring that our aims and objectives are fully aligned. We also work with the CSP, not just on the First Contact Practitioner programme, but on their more general work as well, including campaigns such as Love Activity, Hate Exercise which launched in 2018.

Osteopaths and Chiropractors

We were pleased to form a partnership with the Institute of Osteopathy and Royal College of Chiropractors and establish the NASS Allies project. We are working together to help to reduce the delay to diagnosis and improve awareness. You can read more about the project, including our GP Referral Template and regional Seminars in the health professionals section of the website.

Related Professions

Our Back Pain Plus campaign targets professionals working in ophthalmology, gastroenterology and dermatology, aiming to help reduce the current 8.5 year delay in diagnosis for people with axial spondyloarthritis including ankylosing spondylitis (AS) because:

• 26% of people with AS have acute anterior uveitis & 40% of people with acute anterior uveitis have spondyloarthritis
• 9% of people with AS have psoriasis
• 7% of people with AS have inflammatory bowel disease

You can read more about the campaign in the health professionals section of the website.