National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society

Reducing the time to diagnosis for a form of inflammatory disease called axial Spondyloarthritis has seemed an impossible task. The average time has stubbornly stood at 8 1/2 years to the extent that it was in danger of being normalised. We have shown that this need not be the case. Our campaign Act on Axial SpA has resulted in local rheumatology departments showing reductions in time to diagnosis for their patients. At national level, we have data from 600 recently diagnosis patients across 50 NHS Trusts and Health Boards showing that the average time at UK level is now 7 1/2 years. Our awareness campaign has reached audiences who knew nothing about the condition and has already helped 39,000 people complete our online symptom checker and start their journey to diagnosis. We have led the largest quality improvement programme of its kind in axial SpA anywhere in the world. In April 2025 we brought all of our data and learning together into a national Playbook for axial SpA diagnosis which is now being formally adopted by NHS England. We are so proud of what we have achieved and now look forward to national roll-out across the NHS.