23 July 2025
Templates for 21 of the most common rheumatological queries or conditions requested via Advice and Guidance (A&G) are now available in a collaboration between the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) and Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) - helping to strengthen communication between primary and secondary care and reduce delays.
GIRFT’s new rheumatology toolkit reproduces resources originally developed by the BSR in 2023, adapting them to GIRFT’s colour-coded A&G template style, in keeping with the programme’s growing suite of A&G resources across key specialties.
The rheumatology toolkit offers templates for queries on conditions including fibromyalgia, management of Raynaud’s, suspected early inflammatory arthritis and referral of patients at very high fracture risk osteoporosis, with the aim of reducing waiting times by enabling secondary care clinicians to provide primary care with faster, more streamlined access to Advice and Guidance (also known as Specialist Advice Services).
Peter Lanyon, GIRFT’s joint clinical lead for rheumatology, said:
“This toolkit will support providers to implement best practice, easing pressures on Specialist Advice Services while ensuring that specialist advice requests receive responses that are timely and consistent in quality."