Inflammatory Arthritis public awareness campaign

Developed by the Rheumatology Futures Project Group (RFPG) and endorsed and supported by Arthritis Research UK, the Royal College of GPs and The Primary Care Rheumatology Society.

The RFPG are also hoping for Department of Health backing for this campaign which was one of the key recommendations in the National Audit Office Report published in July 2009.

Inflammatory Arthritis? Have you got the ‘S’ Factor?

• Stiffness - Early morning joint stiffness lasting more than 30 minutes
• Swelling - Persistent swelling of one joint or more, especially hand joints
• Squeezing - Squeezing the joints is painful in inflammatory arthritis

The message to the general public is: ‘If you have any symptoms highlighted in the poster which might possibly relate to either rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis, which are the three most common forms of inflammatory arthritis, then seek help from your GP, don’t delay’.

The Rheumatology Futures Project Group (RFPG)

The RFPG is a coalition of patient and professional organisations representing the entire rheumatology community (primary care, secondary care, consultants, GPs, nurses and allied health professionals, patient organisations) and the pharmaceutical industry.

The RFPG was specifically formed in 2007 to develop and execute a collaborative and clearly‐defined programme of work to identify barriers to providing high‐quality rheumatology services for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) across England, and to explore what high quality care should look like and how it could be delivered and was limited to a three year, time limited project which ends summer 2010.