Dear Rheumatology patients
I sincerely hope you and your family are staying safe and limiting your contact with others.
To protect yourself and others, please wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, cough into a tissue and discard immediately, avoid touching your face and avoid contact with anyone who is unwell. Practice social distancing at all times.
This advice applies to both adults and children with rheumatic disease and is current from 3 April 2020.
Due to the high volume of calls/emails we are receiving regarding covid-19 and anti-rheumatic drugs, we are not able to answer individual calls or respond to emails with regard to medication and covid-19. We are currently unable to provide individualised letters for employers – please use your most recent copy of clinic letter .
Shielding and social distancing: Below is a flowchart (available here) that walks you through which category of risk you are in dependent on your anti-rheumatic medication and what precautions you should be taking with regard social distancing and shielding (self-isolation).
General advice:
(1) If you are well, do NOT stop taking your anti-rheumatic medication unless advised to do so by your Rheumatology team. By stopping your medication you may be more likely to flare which could put you at increased risk of contracting any infection.
(2) Do NOT stop steroid treatment suddenly.
(3) If you are unwell, as with any other infection, omit your anti-rheumatic medication for 1-2 weeks and restart once the infection has been treated
(4) If you suspect you have coronavirus infection, please follow national guidance and contact NHS 111 or its online service for further advice.
(5) Patients with follow up appointments coming up over the following weeks will receive a telephone consultation. Please ensure your telephone details with the hospital are up to date. This is subject to change dependent on staff being redeployed to other areas of the hospital.
(6) Do NOT attend the hospital unless it is an urgent problem.
For all other enquiries please leave a message and we will respond as soon as we can.
Flowchart for children with rheumatic diseases
https://www.ccaa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Paed-RheumOphth-Risk-Stratification4Families-FINAL-01042020.pdf
The following weblinks from the Versus Arthritis team, British Society of Rheumatology and the government provide further useful advice:
https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/march/coronavirus-covid-19-what-is-it-and-where-to-go-for-information/
https://www.rheumatology.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Rheumatology_advice_coronavirus_immunosuppressed_patients_220320.pdf?ver=2020-03-22-155745-717
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
