02 June 2023
Our new research published today shows growing the rheumatology workforce reduces the health and societal costs of rheumatoid arthritis by £50 million and improves patients' outcomes in 5 years alone.
Today, we are publishing new health economic modelling which shows that investing in the rheumatology workforce is cost-effective, meaning it reduces the overall health and societal costs of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and enables patients to live freer healthier lives.
The research, carried out by Costello Medical, looks at the cost-effectiveness of growing the rheumatology workforce on the treatment of adults with incident RA over 5 years. You can read the full report
detailing the model design and inputs. The goal of this research was to demonstrate the impact of the specialist rheumatology workforce, providing clear evidence to back up our call to grow the rheumatology workforce.
Commenting on the research BSR CEO Sarah Campbell said:
“We believe our research is quite novel, making us likely the only speciality with this level of evidence to back up our workforce recommendations. Our cost-effectiveness model shows how growing the rheumatology workforce reduces the overall costs for the typical incident RA patient. With this new modelling, we are able to clearly link how growing the rheumatology workforce improves patient outcomes and reduces the health and societal costs of RA.”
We found that growing the rheumatology workforce would reduce the overall societal and health costs of incident RA by an estimated £50 million over 5 years. It would also improve the health outcomes of patients at a minimal cost for the NHS of £152 per incident RA patient over 5 years. In the first year, it would save the NHS money by reducing the need for other clinical interventions, such as surgery arising due to complications. It is so cost-effective that it delivers the kinds of health improvements that would lead NICE to recommend a new therapy.
The model only considers the impacts on adults with incident RA, but we believe similar positive impacts should be expected in the treatment of these conditions as well, and that the paediatric workforce could expect similar positive improvements in health outcomes for children and young people.
Read our key findings
This modelling is published as a part of our ‘The People We Need’ campaign, which launched in April. The campaign focuses on growing the rheumatology workforce to enable excellent rheumatology care. The impact of the rheumatology workforce on patient health, as well as the economic benefits, are now clear. If you haven’t already, please write to your MP to support ‘The People We Need’ campaign.