Where have all the rheumatology consultants been this week? by Sarah Kate Ball

It’s been unusually quiet here in the NRAS office this week with a lot of staff members attending the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) conference up in Glasgow. The BSR conference is an annual event and a very important few days in the world of rheumatology. The conference is an opportunity for rheumatology consultants, nurse specialists, GPs, researchers, podiatrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, academics and specialist charities like NRAS to get together and discuss all things musculoskeletal. This year there have been talks from some of the UK’s leading rheumatology professors, and seminars on subjects including ‘reproductive issues in rheumatology’, ‘sex discrimination in the autoimmune rheumatic diseases’, ‘optimising therapy for rheumatoid arthritis’, ‘the foot and ankle’, and ‘new developments in reducing work absence for people with musculoskeletal conditions’. There are various awards given to those working innovatively in the field of rheumatology, or to those who have made particularly outstanding contributions. There is also an opportunity for organisations like NRAS to exhibit research posters and make presentations about projects they have undertaken. This year we were proudly able to display one poster detailing an audit of our helpline services, another based on our ‘RA and Physiotherapy’ report, and to make presentations on our ‘Impact on the Family’ survey and our online work information.

It all sounds very interesting, and I am very much looking forward to hearing from those who attended about all the research findings, new developments and future areas of research mentioned. NRAS members will also have the opportunity to find out more about the topics and research discussed, and what we learned at the BSR this year, in the members’ magazine. You can see a sample of the articles featured in a recent NRAS magazine here: www.nras.org.uk/includes/do...

So, while it has been quiet, the skeleton staff left here in the office have been working very hard to keep everything ticking over! We have even found time to launch a new ‘foot health’ section of the NRAS website where you can find information on podiatry, foot hygiene and some personal case studies. Please click on the following link if you’d like to take a look: www.nras.org.uk/about_rheum...

I will shortly be needing advice on where to find some good sturdy trainers having signed myself up, along with 4 other NRASers to run the NRAS 10k in the summer. And as if running up hills and getting very sweaty on a Sunday morning wasn’t fun enough, we will also be dressed up as 70’s disco giants ‘The Village People’. So I now have the added challenge of finding some sweat-proof facepaint with which to daub a realistic looking goatee on my chin...wish me luck!

I think we are now all looking forward to our long weekend, I hope you are all able to enjoy a happy May Day bank holiday.

Sarah Kate

NRAS Helpline