Report calls for more help for

rheumatoid arthritis patients in

the workplace

Taken from NRAS magazine, Winter 2007

September saw the publication of an exciting new report by the respected think-tank, The Work Foundation, which examined the relationship between musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and working. The report, entitled “Fit for Work: Musculoskeletal Disorders and Labour Market Participation”, found that working was beneficial to people with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, by helping maintain self-esteem and financial independence. Chief Executive, Ailsa Bosworth, contributed to the report which highlighted that more should be done by the government, employers and the health service to ensure that people affected by MSDs are suitably supported to stay in their jobs. The report also looked at the wider benefits that could be achieved if more attention were paid to preventing people from having to leave work because of their condition.

The report, entitled “Fit for Work: Musculoskeletal Disorders and Labour Market Participation”, found that working was beneficial to people with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis

The report follows our recent ‘I want to work…’ survey that revealed just how important work is to people with RA. Citing the results of the survey that showed what people with RA would find most useful to help them carry on working, the report argued that early intervention and an emphasis on keeping people in work wherever possible were likely to boost national productivity and help reduce incapacity benefit claims.

The report concluded by calling for:

• Partnerships between the patient, employer and GP to achieve a balance between an individual's need for rest and the need to work

• Better job design: for example, managers changing the ways work is organised, from adjusting working time and altering task allocation, to improving ergonomics

• More focus to be given to the direct and indirect costs of MSDs, for example changes to the NICE guidelines so that assessment of the social, economic and work impact of MSDs is taken into account when evaluating treatments and therapies

The report was supported by a grant from the healthcare company, Abbott, and was profiled in the media, and officially launched at a series of fringe events at the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative party conferences. It was particularly exciting to see Theresa May MP, NRAS’s patron and Shadow Cabinet member, speak at the fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool, and show her support for RA patients.

Theresa May MP, NRAS’s patron and Shadow Cabinet member, showed her support for RA patients when she spoke at the fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference

Encouragingly, Dame Professor Carol Black, the Government's National Director for Health and Work, also welcomed the report and provided the foreword. She said: "I hope that, in time, MSDs will become less relevant to work and working life. Until then, efforts to raise awareness of them must continue with ever greater urgency."