Arthritis diagnosis times fail to improve in seven years

Delays in accessing treatment can make disability worse and cause damage to a patient's heart and lungs..

The average time between onset of symptoms to diagnosis and first treatment is about nine months in England, which has not changed since 2003.

A lack of public awareness on symptoms of the disease – which means people delay seeking help – and GPs failing to spot symptoms or refer to specialists is fuelling the lag, according to a Commons Public Accounts Committee report published today.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis visit a GP on average four times before they get referred while a fifth visit a GP eight or more times before referral.

The cross-party group of MPs called for more GP training to speed up diagnosis.

Their report said: "GPs receive on average only two hours of teaching on musculoskeletal conditions during their training, including minimal coverage of inflammatory arthritis."

The report added that once people are diagnosed, they do not always get the services they need to help them cope with life with the disease.

It pointed to wide variations in how much primary care trusts spend on people with arthritis – between 5.68 and 17.58 per head.

An estimated 580,000 people in England have rheumatoid arthritis, with 26,000 new cases diagnosed each year.