A NEW 'one-stop shop' Early Arthritis clinic has opened at St Luke's Hospital.

The service includes a wide range of different health professionals who have come together to offer a unique service.

Now, three weeks after referral by their GP, patients who may have inflammatory arthritis can attend the clinic for assessment by a consultant, followed by same-day access to ultrasound, physiotherapy and specialist nurse drug counselling and education. This means that, if needed, patients can have all the blood, ultrasound and X-ray tests done during one appointment, instead of separate appointments on different dates as happened previously. The clinic runs once a week and aims to see around 40 new and follow-up patients at each session.

Ahmed Zayat, Consultant Rheumatologist at the Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust, said: “I’m very excited that we can now offer patients such a state-of-the-art service.

"Seeing a patient in the Early Arthritis Service for the first time and getting all the necessary tests done means we can really speed up the diagnosis and get them started on treatment.

“With the painful symptoms of inflammatory arthritis, people can often have to take time off work and suffer both psychologically and physically as they wait weeks for treatment – all things which have a huge impact on their quality of life and also their family.

“We wanted to do things better and give patients the best service possible, as well as making best use of the hospital team’s expertise and resources. I think the new service does all that and more.”