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<p>The Department is not involved in the direct promotion of quality standards.</p><p>
</p><p>Whilst healthcare and other professionals in the National Health Service are
expected to take clinical guidelines which offer education and self-management for
patients diagnosed with arthritic conditions fully into account. Clinical guidelines
do not override the responsibility of healthcare clinicians to make decisions appropriate
to the circumstances of each patient.</p><p> </p><p>On 28 June 2018, the National
Institute for Health and Care Excellence published a new Quality Standard (QS) on
spondyloarthritis. The QS includes four quality statements identified as the markers
of high quality spondyloarthritis care. The first statement sets out that adults with
suspected axial or peripheral spondyloarthritis are referred to a rheumatologist.
The standard advises that this may be monitored through local data collection, such
as audit of patient records.</p>
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