24 June 2026
Consultation is now open for two draft guidelines, offering you the chance to preview these guidelines ahead of publication and welcoming your feedback via our consultation form.
The draft guidelines are now open for a four-week consultation period, in line with our Guideline Protocol. Comments are welcomed from individuals, groups or organisations.
To submit comments, please email completed consultation forms to guidelines@rheumatology.org.uk.
The consultation period closes at 17:00 on Wednesday 22 July 2026
Polymyalgia rheumatica update
This is the update to our guideline for the treatment of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). Several key recommendations have been included in this update. These include when to discuss or refer people with PMR to rheumatology; initiation of glucocorticoids (GCs) and tapering with options for a faster GC taper; consideration of early methotrexate; IL-6 receptor antagonist use in people with PMR who are unable to taper GCs or have had an inadequate response; and bone protection in all people with PMR.
Furthermore, the guideline emphasises the importance of ongoing patient education and counselling, monitoring for glucocorticoid toxicity and suggestions for when to refer people with PMR to secondary care. This guideline aims to support clinicians in delivering safe, effective and individualised care for people with PMR, while promoting judicious use of GCs and timely introduction of GC-sparing therapies where appropriate.
The published PMR guideline update scope can be viewed here.
Polymyalgia rheumatica – draft guideline manuscript
Polymyalgia rheumatica – draft audit tool
Polymyalgia rheumatica – draft summary sheet
Systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease-associated interstitial lung disease (SARD-ILD)
This topic was proposed by our members as a new guideline in 2022. Since then, a multiprofessional and multispecialty working group of clinical experts and people with lived experience have reviewed all applicable evidence to develop recommendations to support UK clinicians in the diagnosis and management of SARD-ILD.
The guideline sets out to support clinical decision-making, inform local and national policy development and improve care for people with SARD-ILD across the UK. It is the first UK-specific guideline of its kind.
This first iteration of our SARD-ILD guideline is for adult populations. ILD is a rare complication of SARDs in children and, when the guideline development was initiated in 2022, it was considered that there was insufficient evidence to support specific recommendations. Future iterations will be expanded to the whole life course.
The original published SARD-ILD guideline scope can be viewed here.
SARD-ILD – draft guideline manuscript
SARD-ILD – draft audit tool
SARD-ILD – draft summary sheet
To submit comments, please email completed consultation forms to guidelines@rheumatology.org.uk.
If you have any issues with the readability of the draft guideline documents, please contact guidelines@rheumatology.org.uk so that an alternative version can be made available to you.