Welcome to Membership

Dr Kathy Bailey

Paediatric Rheumatologist, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Kathy says: "It would be unthinkable for me to be a paediatric rheumatologist without being a member of the British Society for Rheumatology. It contributes to everything I do from individual patient management, considering the quality of care I deliver on a one-to-one basis and as a whole service and how my team can develop their skills and knowledge to best support our patients."

Kathy became a member of the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology (BSPAR) 17 years ago when she began working in the field, and has seen it flourish into a lively, multi-professional organisation within our society. Kathy now serves a vital role as President of the BSPAR Section Council and helps to influence her peers and the work that is produced to care for young patients as they grow into adults. The information, standards of care, and networking opportunities, such as the BSPAR section annual conference, have helped Kathy to keep up to date and share good practice.

She adds: “Collaborating with all professionals working in paediatric rheumatology, committed groups and charities and patients and parents has provided a passionate and effective environment within the society to develop the evidence, guidance and support to provide the best quality of care to my patients."

Dr Chetan Mukhytar

Consultant Rheumatologist, Norfolk and Norwich University

Chetan says: “This is the home of British rheumatology and I am a member for the princely sum of 76 pence a day. This is a charitable society – it does not make profits. The sole aim of the society is to improve standards in rheumatology. I have been a member of this great body since my first locum rheumatology registrar job in Reading. It would be great to have you stand with us.”

Chetan is an active and involved member, and was our Honorary Secretary. In his practice at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals, he specialises in systemic vasculitis and inflammatory arthritis, and is a prolific highly-cited author and researcher.

His story can only be summed up in his own words: “There isn’t a day that goes by in my practice when I am not positively affected by the work that the society has done for me. Below are some of the reasons why I am a member of this society."

• Clinical guidance – the society produces NICE accredited guidelines that make it easy for me to ensure that the care of my patients is at par with the best in the world. The guidelines evaluate the evidence for me, produce specific recommendations, and set audit standards for me to follow.

• Access to high-cost drugs – the society liaises with NHS England and NICE to influence access to high-cost drugs. Without this, rheumatology in the UK would be significantly behind the times.

• Helping to train my juniors – the society liaises with the Royal College of Physicians and influences how my juniors are trained and what constitutes their curriculum. Without that there would be significant variations in the training across the country

• My education – without the society's courses, I would struggle to meet my external CPD points. That I get a discount to these meetings is an added bonus.

• Community – as a member of the society I am a member of a large community of rheumatology clinicians and academics. The society is our voice and together we shape the future of this specialty.

• There is access to a journal, and while I could probably get access to the journal from my hospital and/or university, I recognise and appreciate that someone is doing that work to support the educational needs of British rheumatologists, of whom I am one

• Providing a platform – The society allows me a platform for networking, presenting my experience, sharing ideas, learning and innovating, to inspire and be inspire

• Franchise – I have the right to vote for my leaders and indeed to stand for leadership to shape the society which does so much for me.

Dr Jill Firth

Consultant Nurse, Oldham Integrated Care

Jill says: "At different stages in my career I have taken advantage of most of the benefits the society has to offer its members. I would be lost without the guidelines and biologics registry data that keep me up to date and provide a constant source of reference in busy clinics."

Jill joined the British Health Professionals in Rheumatology (BHPR) – now a thriving and rapidly expanding section of the society, over 20 years ago – initially to strengthen her CV as a specialist nurse, and ended up serving as President of the BHPR Section Council until 2018!

She adds: “I love hearing about emerging models of best practice and the e-news alerts me to national developments that may impact on my own service. Participation in the national rheumatoid arthritis audit and Peer Review has provided important benchmarking data to share with our commissioners and I am, of course, personally delighted to see increasing evidence to support the value of specialist nursing!"

We now have a dedicated journal for health professionals, Rheumatology Advances in Practice. Health professional colleagues and our members can enjoy significant discounts to this journal, as well as full online access to our flagship journal, Rheumatology.

Dr Charlotte Sharp

Rheumatology trainee

Charlotte says: “I love the diagnostic challenges that rheumatology brings and the fact that there are so many new and exciting treatments emerging within the field. I was also drawn to the opportunity to develop long term relationships with patients due to the chronic nature of many rheumatological disorders.”

Charlotte joined us in 2010 when she chose to pursue a career in rheumatology. She is now a clinical academic based in Manchester, combining rheumatology specialist training with a PhD in knowledge mobilisation.

She adds: “I have benefited from regular use of the society’s guidelines, as have many of my trainee colleagues, as these are a trusted source of clinical information. The research data that arises from the biologics registers provide all rheumatologists with vital data on the safety of these important treatments.”

Charlotte contributed to the development of some of resources for quality improvement which arose from the audit and hopes to be able to contribute to developing this area further in future.

“The annual conference has given me the opportunity to learn about a range of rheumatological subjects from clinical updates to cutting edge biomedical and health services research, and to gain confidence in presenting my own work. More recently I’ve been involved with the multi-region audit into the management of adults with SLE. This gave me a unique insight into the huge amount of rigorous work that goes into such projects.”

Dr Stephen McDonald

Rheumatology trainee

Stephen is a specialist registrar in rheumatology and general internal medicine from Belfast and is currently a Clinical Research Fellow at the Centre for Musculoskeletal Research at the University of Manchester. He became a member after attending the Annual Conference for the first time in 2015.

He says: “I was impressed by the quality of the speakers and it gave me a chance to explore subspecialty interests.”

As a trainee, the education courses we offer and the ability to share his knowledge and experiences with his peers were essential to Stephen’s professional development.

“I would highly recommend becoming a member. It is the best platform for sharing knowledge and expertise. It has been fundamental to my career development to date and to the betterment of patient care.”