Rheumatoid Arthritis Teams Receive Awards for Services to Patients Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis

First Ever Healthcare Champions Awards Recognise Excellence in Supporting Patients with Debilitating Disease

On Tuesday 1st November 2006 David Amess MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Inflammatory Arthritis, welcomed teams from hospitals across the country to present them with Healthcare Champions Awards from the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) in recognition of the excellent support and care they have provided to people living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The teams received their awards from the Rt. Hon Theresa May MP, NRAS Patron and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, at an awards ceremony at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. It is the first time that health professionals working in the area of rheumatoid arthritis have been nominated for awards by the patients themselves.

RA is an incredibly painful disease that can cause severe disability. It affects mainly the joints but can impact on other organs. The condition can shorten life expectancy from around 6-10 years and can have a major impact on a person’s life. Forty two per cent of RA patients are registered disabled within 3 years and four fifths of patients are moderately to severely disabled within 20 years of diagnosis.

For the 400,000 people in the UK living with RA, dedicated rheumatology teams provide crucial support and a high standard of care for patients living with this devastating condition. NRAS, however, is concerned that some of these services are under threat from budget restrictions meaning that many RA patients could lose the support they need.

Ailsa Bosworth, Chief Executive and founder of NRAS, comments:
“The Healthcare Champions awards recognise the skill, expertise and compassion of rheumatology health professionals across the UK. This is particularly important at a time when many of the RA services and highly skilled staff working in this important field are under threat from a lack of funding. Rheumatoid Arthritis does not get the priority it should because people confuse it with osteoarthritis, which is a totally different condition which many people get as they get older. RA is a serious autoimmune chronic disease and people who suffer from it require on-going care and follow up. ”

David Amess MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Inflammatory Arthritis Group said:
 
“I was delighted to congratulate the first winners of the NRAS Healthcare Champions awards and will continue to do everything we can as a cross-party group of MPs and peers to support and highlight the needs of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.“