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Arthritis: Health Services

Answer

The Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which provides rheumatology services for those living in the Ashfield constituency, currently reports an average wait of approximately four weeks for a first rheumatology appointment. The trust is meeting the National Health Service constitutional standard, with 100% of patients seen within 18 weeks and no patients waiting over 52 weeks. Nationally, the average wait to see a rheumatologist is approximately 10 weeks, meaning patients in Ashfield are seen significantly sooner than the national average.

While no Ashfield constituency‑specific programme is separately published, these improvements reflect work to enhance clinic capacity, referral pathways, and operational efficiency. The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board also participates in NHS England’s Referral to Treatment improvement framework, using monthly performance data to support continued progress.

Specialist care is provided through rheumatology services at Kings Mill Hospital, offering diagnosis, medication management, joint injections, and monitoring for inflammatory and degenerative arthritis. Community‑based services, including physiotherapy, podiatry, and dietetics, are available locally and monitored through the Community Health Services Monthly Situation Report. Additional support is available through national resources such as NHS My Planned Care and Arthritis Action, which provide guidance on pain management, exercise, and self‑management.

Nationally, we are supporting better care for patients with arthritis through the Getting It Right First Time Programme (GIRFT) for Rheumatology. The GIRFT rheumatology programme is supporting the NHS to deliver care more equitably throughout England and closer to patients’ homes and improve services nationally.

Additionally, as part of the GIRFT Musculoskeletal (MSK) Community Delivery Programme, GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for patients with arthritis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. Patients with MSK conditions, such as arthritis, will also soon be able to bypass their general practitioners and directly access community services, including physiotherapy, pain management, and orthopaedics, in the NHS App.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

4327

Session

2026-27

Grouped for answer

Yes

Subjects

Health services Arthritis Ashfield

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk