Our campaigning successes

Our Campaigning successes

At Arthritis UK, we’re continuing to campaign to make arthritis a priority. Here's a quick look at what our community has helped us achieve over the years and what’s up next for our campaigning across the UK.

Waiting times for planned care

In 2020 we launched our Impossible to Ignore campaign in the wake of ballooning waiting times for planned care – like hip and knee replacements – during the pandemic. Thousands of people with arthritis were waiting far too long, in pain and without support, for this life-changing treatment. Since the launch of our campaign, we’ve made waiting times for planned care a political priority across the UK. Thanks to our campaigning in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, all four governments now have plans in place to tackle the backlog.

Helping people stay well while they wait for treatment in Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, we've also been influencing the Department of Health to make sure people with arthritis get the care and support they need to stay well while they wait. In May 2024, we were delighted to see a commitment from the department to develop a 'waiting well' plan in their Elective Care Framework review, with a £500,000 budget allocated to the project in May 2025. We will continue to campaign so that this plan delivers for people with arthritis who desperately need support while they wait for treatment.

Paediatric Rheumatology services for children in Wales

We successfully campaigned for a new multidisciplinary paediatric rheumatology service at the Noah's Ark Hospital in Cardiff. After many years of campaigning, the service opened in 2019 and now means children with arthritis in South Wales no longer have to travel to England to access the care and support they need.

Free prescriptions for people living with chronic conditions in Wales

We also campaigned for free prescription services for people with arthritis, which led to the scrapping of prescription charges in Wales.

Making musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions a government priority in Wales and Scotland

We helped develop the Welsh Government’s new MSK Framework, launched this year to join up services and support for people with arthritis across Wales. As part of this, a National Strategic Clinical Network for MSK Conditions was set up – a group of clinical leaders, health professionals, charities, and patients working together to improve services. After campaigning for a dedicated plan for eight years, this is a huge win for our community. For the first time, we’ve not just got a plan, but a whole team of experts focused on MSK health and improving services for people with arthritis in Wales.

With major changes planned for the NHS in Scotland, we're campaigning to put arthritis firmly on the agenda. The Scottish Government recently launched its Long Term Conditions Framework: a plan to improve care and support for people with conditions like arthritis. We asked our community to share what matters most when it comes to their care, to help shape our response and push for a plan that delivers.

What’s next

Following our success in Wales, we’re campaigning for dedicated MSK plans in all nations across the UK. The launch of the 10 Year Health Plan in England and the Long Term Conditions Framework in Scotland are positive steps forward for our community, but we need to see specific plans that join up services and support for people with arthritis across the UK. We will continue to push for these in every nation, thanks to the ongoing support of our amazing community.