NRAS Mark Third Healthcare Champions Award Success
01 November 2011
10 Healthcare Champions honoured at House of Commons as NRAS celebrate 10th Anniversary Year
Maidenhead, UK, 01 November, 2011 - The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) is delighted to announce the 10 winners of their third Healthcare Champions Award in a year of celebrating their 10th Anniversary. The winners, from around the UK, will be honoured at a special reception to be held tonight at the State Rooms, Speaker’s House, House of Commons, where the awards will be presented by The Home Secretary and NRAS patron, The Rt Hon Theresa May MP.
NRAS is the only charity in the UK solely concerned with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and offer support, information and advocacy for nearly 700,000 people across the UK living with RA or Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, their families, friends and carers.
A major priority for NRAS is to raise public awareness of RA and campaign for equal access to good care and services for all. The biennial Healthcare Champions Awards is an important part of this work and provides the opportunity to celebrate the dedication, professionalism and excellent care given by those healthcare professionals that go ‘the extra mile’ to provide the best possible outcomes for the many people coping with RA, while also working in a challenging environment of NHS reforms and financial cuts.
NRAS members across the UK were asked to nominate their choices of healthcare professionals for the awards and the response was phenomenal. A wide variety of nominations was received for whole rheumatology units, consultants, specialist nurses and GPs. A special panel of judges was then convened to choose the entries that best met the following criteria:
• Provides a rheumatology service that really meets patients’ needs
• Treats patients holistically i.e. as individuals with individual needs and preferences
• Involves their patients in decisions about their individual care
• Goes that extra mile to listen, to care and to educate their patients about their disease, options and next steps in their care pathway
• Fights for their patients if they need treatment for which funding has become difficult.
Inspite of the significant variability of access to rheumatoid arthritis services across the UK, there are many examples of high standards of care. The success of the 2011 Healthcare Champions Award nominations confirm that there are many people with RA that are receiving excellent support in coping with their disease. Many of the testaments told passionately of the care received, such as “The team provide a safe-harbour amid the stormy seas of pain and disability - I feel lucky beyond words to have their care”.
Commenting on the nominations Ailsa Bosworth, Chief Executive, NRAS said:
“Once again I am enormously impressed by the dedication of our health professionals in RA and so proud that for the third year, and in such a special year, we are having the opportunity to celebrate the good work of our Healthcare Champions in RA. I would like to thank all those who wrote in with their nominations and applaud our winners for their professionalism and excellence of care.”
In addition to the Healthcare Champion Awards NRAS has celebrated its very special 10th Anniversary with events running throughout the year, including: ‘Tea for 10’ initiative; Sky Dive in May for members, staff and supporters; celebratory Birthday Lunch in June; The Great North Run in September, which saw CEO, Alisa Bosworth pushed by medical advisers, members and supporters; ‘Marathon in a Month’ run and finishing the year with a Christmas Concert.
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For further media information, please contact:
Jamie Hewitt, Government Affairs Manager, National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society
Tel: 0845 458 3969, Email: jamie@nras.org.uk
Clare Lucker, Consultant to NRAS
Tel: 07979 694931 Email: clarelucker@yahoo.co.uk
Resources available:
Spokesperson: Ailsa Bosworth, CEO, National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society
Case studies: Consenting winners and photos
Notes for Editors:
1. The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) was launched in October 2001 and in a relatively short time has become established as the campaigning voice in the UK for people with Rheumatoid Arthritis. NRAS provides a total one-stop-shop with support, information and advocacy for all people in the UK with RA, their carers and families. NRAS has a national volunteer network, a group of people with the disease who provide peer to peer support and provide additional resource to help NRAS in many different ways http://www.nras.org.uk
2. RA is a chronic, progressive and disabling autoimmune disease, which chiefly impacts upon joints but can also affect other organs such as the heart, eyes and lungs. RA is often confused with osteoarthritis, which is a different disease caused by wear and tear of the joints as we get older. RA impacts heavily on people of working age affecting around 690,000 of the UK adult population, with approximately 26,000 new diagnoses each year.