Patients with suspected inflammatory arthritis benefit significantly from swift assessment by secondary care. If disease modifying drugs are started soon after presentation, the likelihood of full remission is greatly improved. This has always been challenging within the NHS and the COVID-19 pandemic has made prompt specialist review much harder. In this podcast, Dr Toni Hazell speaks to Dr Danny Murphy about the basics of making a diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis, when to refer and what investigations to carry out, as well as talking about the specific issues that have been raised by the COVID-19 pandemic.