Rheumatoid and Early Inflammatory Arthritis 2nd Annual Report 2016

Reports | Published: 24 Jul 2016

The National Rheumatoid and Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit report was commissioned by HQIP as part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcome Programme (NCAPOP) and carried out by the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR).

The report reveals that nationally just 20 per cent of patients who see a GP with suspected rheumatoid and early inflammatory arthritis are referred to specialist services within the three-day limit recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). For some health providers, this wait is over 20 weeks for a quarter of their patients. Nationally, fewer than half of patients who are referred, are seen by a specialist within the three-week time limit recommended by NICE. For some providers, a quarter of patients are waiting more than 12 weeks.

The full clinician and patient friendly reports are available to download below.

View press release here

Don’t miss out. Sign up to be notified when this resource is updated and to receive updates about other related quality improvement resources, events and news from HQIP. Or you can  .


By continuing you agree to receive emails with updates and other information from HQIP and you are confirming you are over the age of 13.

Please read our privacy policy to understand how HQIP uses the information you provide, your use of HQIP’s website and your interaction with the marketing emails to improve the relevance of the communications we send you. You can unsubscribe at any time.

I have read and agree with the contents of the privacy policy.

Rheumatoid and Early Inflammatory Arthritis 2nd Annual Report 2016