I live in Shropshire where there is a very good orthopaedic hospital, The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital in Oswestry. However, this is over 30 miles away from where I live in Telford. Up until recently the RA service in Telford has been very hit and miss and they borrow staff from Oswestry. They have recently appointed a new RA Consultant for Telford and things are improving. I had a phone call from my RA team on Monday to say that they are moving our of our local hospital, the Princess Royal, and the PCT have taken over a building and refurbed it just around the corner from where I work. They want to improve the RA service in our area and offer a base for all the clinical staff we will need to see. Wonderful news.

Then I heard on the news that they are getting rid of most PCT's and handing it over to GP's. Bad news. I know I am only one of two patients in my practice who has RA and my GP's have no knowledge of RA. I am telling them about anti-tnf's etc and how my Rheumy team are going to treat me. When I went for advice on what anti-tnf to take, all they could tell me was how much it cost.

I feel that RA patients will be very low down on the list when they are considering funding. After all said and done, they are going to look after the majority of their patients rather than the minority. I am gutted as, although I have only been diagnosed with this disease for 18 months, I can see how patients with RA are struggling to gain the treatment they deserve.

I only hope I am proved wrong.

Jackie
xx