BSR and BHPR rheumatoid arthritis guidelines on eligibility criteria for the first biological therapy.

Chris Deighton1, Kimme Hyrich2, Tina Ding1, Jo Ledingham3, Mark Lunt2, Raashid Luqmani4, Patrick Kiely5, Marwan Bukhari6, Rikki Abernethy7, Andrew Ostor8, Ailsa Bosworth9, Kate Gadsby1, Frank McKenna10, Diana Finney11 and Josh Dixey12, on behalf of BSR Clinical Affairs Committee & Standards, Audit and Guidelines Working Group and the BHPR 1Rheumatology Department, Royal Derby Hospital, Derby; 2ARC Epidemiology Unit, University of Manchester, Manchester; 3Rheumatology Unit, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth; 4Rheumatology Department, Nuffi eld Orthopaedic Centre, Oxford; 5Rheumatology Department, St George’s Healthcare, London; 6Rheumatology Department, Royal Lancaster Infi rmary, Lancaster; 7Rheumatology Department, St Helens Hospital, St Helens; 8Rheumatology Department, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge; 9National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, Maidenhead; 10Department of Rheumatology, Trafford General Hospital, Manchester; 11Rheumatology Unit, Worthing and Southlands NHS Trust, Worthing; 12Department of Rheumatology, Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry, UK