NASS showcases work at Rheumatology 2025 Conference

Last week we were delighted to attend the British Society for Rheumatology’s Annual Conference in Manchester to showcase our work and connect with health care professionals working in axial spondyloarthritis.

We were able to talk about some of our biggest programmes of work including self-management and Act on Axial SpA, as well as launching a brand new guide.

Launching the Axial Spondyloarthritis Playbook

On day one we were privileged to have been awarded a 90 minute slot on the programme to introduce The Axial Spondyloarthritis Playbook: reducing time to diagnosis and improving patient experience which is part of the Act on Axial SpA campaign. We were joined by over 200 people in person and more who caught up online live or on demand.

The Playbook is a best practice approach to support health care professionals to reduce the time to diagnosis in axial SpA locally, as well as the essential support that patients should receive when they are diagnosed. Organised in key sections of where teams should focus, it allows the user to assess their current practice and performance, plus provides guidance, tools and case studies.

Joining Dale Webb, updating on the impact of the campaign so far, were Sian Bamford, an Advanced Practice Rheumatology Physiotherapist from Barnet Hospital who delivered a very practical example of how the Act on Axial SpA campaign can be applied locally, followed by a run through of the Playbook by Professor Raj Sengupta, Consultant Rheumatologist in Bath.

‘I’m Acting on Axial SpA’

To celebrate the launch of the playbook, we asked visitors to the stand to let us know they were acting on axial SpA – take a look at our gallery below!

A new guide to Advanced Therapies and time to celebrate new guidelines

A few weeks before the conference the BSR launched an updated version of the Axial SpA Guideline, and we were delighted to be invited to their celebration at the event, and of course use it as the perfect platform to launch our corresponding guide to Advanced Therapies which is based on the guideline.

Promoting our self-management sessions in England

With thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund, we’re running online self-management sessions for people newly diagnosed people in England, to add to the work we have already begun in Wales and Northern Ireland. Attendees will leave the session understanding more about their condition and starting on the right track to developing skills to manage the impact it has on their life.

As part of booking, attendees receive bespoke support from NASS. This may include a call from the NASS Helpline, information via email or post, or access to a NASS Branch.

Even more to celebrate

Dale was able to deliver the latest from the Time to Diagnosis Patient Survey at the Spondyloarthritis Oral Abstract Session Find out more
We had an update on NASS in the main exhibition hall
Jill presented a poster on Sex, Gender and Gender Identity in Axial SpA
NASS received a special mention in the Spondyloarthritis Special Interest Group for the support we have showed to a research study on exercise and inflammation
Patricia Bissett, an occupational therapist from Glasgow and one of our Aspiring to Excellence team members, shared her project on work and axial SpA