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ARMA Newsletter April 2019

CEO update – A stronger voice for MSK

A stronger voice for MSK
by Sue Brown, CEO, ARMA
March has been a very impactful month for ARMA. My highlight was probably the ARMA roundtable on mental health. The statistics about incidence of mental health amongst people with musculoskeletal conditions don’t surprise me. It’s obvious why long-term pain and difficulty moving would go along with high levels of depression and anxiety. What surprises me is how little support people get with their mental well-being and that’s something ARMA is determined to change.
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Guest blog: Save Our Pools

Save Our Pools - Guest Blog
by Jill Hamilton, Professional Engagement Manager, National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society
Exercise is the single most important thing that anyone with axial SpA (AS) can do to self-manage their condition. It’s not always possible though; if someone is experiencing a flare or has severe physical disability as a result of their condition then exercising on land can be pretty much impossible. …
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Webinar: Managing child bearing with chronic MSK disease

UCB-sponsor2
Managing women of child bearing potential living with chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease
Wednesday 3 April 2019, 2.30pm

Disease onset for patients living with chronic inflammatory disease (RA, PSA, axSpA and PSO), tends to overlap with peak female reproductive ages. Currently, many women receive inconsistent advice regarding family planning and treatment options during pregnancy.
Read more and register here

Webinars to watch

If you weren’t able to attend the live webinars, you can watch the recordings on the ARMA Webinars page. The most recent webinars are:
  • How to integrate mental and physical healthcare for long term musculoskeletal conditions
  • Everything you wanted to know about setting up a Musculoskeletal Service but were afraid to ask!
  • Supporting people with MSK conditions to be more active
  • A New way of delivering MSK pain service: Integrated pain assessment spinal service
  • Commissioning for quality: community based rheumatology service

Member Posts

NASS delivers inaugural meeting of the first ever APPG on AS

NASS delivers inaugural meeting of the first ever APPG on AS

Last week saw a momentous event for people living with axial SpA (AS) in the UK, when NASS held the inaugural meeting of the first ever all-party parliamentary group (APPG) specifically for Axial Spondyloarthritis. Parliamentarians, policy makers, clinicians, healthcare commissioners and NASS members and staff came together to identify and address concerns about AS care.
Read more
NASS Voices community events

NASS Voices community events

NASS Voices are new community events for both NASS members and non-members, bringing together people with axial SpA (AS), their families and friends, local rheumatologists, nurses, physiotherapists and others interested in the condition. NASS are holding four events in 2019: in Cardiff, 12-13 April; Southampton, 10-11 May; Leeds, 6-7 September 2019; and London, 15-16 November. Read more
BOA-Congress-2019-square_GM

BOA Annual Congress 2019 - Early bird registration

10–13 September 2019
Members’ early bird registration opens next week!
The theme for the 2019 Congress is New Horizons in Research, Education and Clinical Leadership, which will be incorporated throughout all of the plenary and breakout sessions. Early bird registration for BOA members will open on Wednesday 10 April and will close on Tuesday 4 June at 23:59.
Read more
Core Skills in MSK Care workshop series

Aids and Adaptations parliamentary drop-in update

Unfortunately, owing to a planned strike by security staff at Westminster, the Versus Arthritis parliamentary drop-in on aids and adaptations on Wednesday 20 March was cancelled.
This is obviously very disappointing, for Versus Arthritis and campaigners, as we know how important it is for MPs to recognise the impact that aids and adaptations can have for people with arthritis.
Read more
Aids and Adaptations parliamentary drop-in cancelled

Core Skills in MSK Care workshop series

These 1-day practical workshops provide a supportive environment for GPs and other frontline healthcare professionals to develop their confidence and skills in the diagnosis, treatment options and self-management of patients with MSK conditions. There are six remaining workshops scheduled to take place throughout the UK: in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and two in London.
Read more
RCN Rheumatology Nursing Workshop 2019

RCN Rheumatology Nursing Workshop 2019

Advances, innovations and challenges in rheumatology nursing Friday 28 June 2019, RCN HQ, London The RCN Rheumatology Nursing Workshop 2019 event includes talks on ‘Understanding vasculitis and impact on inflammatory arthritis patients’ and ‘Understanding the JAK pathway – a new mode of action for rheumatology’.
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Spotlight on

ARMA Mental Health Roundtable

ARMA Mental Health Roundtable

In March, ARMA held a roundtable on mental health. We brought together people from the mental and MSK health sectors, both voluntary and statutory to hear presentations from Arthritis Action, NHS England’s Head of Mental Health, a patient perspective and the Haringey IAPT service. IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) is designed to support people with depression and anxiety but has recently been rolled out to include long term conditions.
Read more
Closing the workforce gap

Closing the workforce gap

The Health Foundation, Kings Fund and Nuffield Trust recently published a report Closing the Gap: key areas for action on the health and care workforce. The report looked at two areas - nursing and general practice, both very relevant to MSK health care. At the moment the future looks bleak, with 41,000 nursing vacancies in the NHS and another 5,000 in social care. There are 2,500 fewer GPs than are needed.
Read more
Ration Watch - Surgery

Ration Watch - Surgery

ARMA has been working with the Medical Technology Group (MTG) to raise concerns about increasing rationing of joint replacement surgery. The MTG is a coalition of patient groups, research charities and medical device manufacturers working to improve access to cost effective medical technologies for everyone who needs them. MTG has concerns about treatment rationing in general and have launched the Ration Watch campaign to highlight care inequality and the impact it has on patients’ lives.
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Evidence into Practice Challenge 2019

Evidence into Practice Challenge 2019

Finding the next big idea
Do you have an evidence-based idea to change clinical practice? Apply to the Evidence into Practice Challenge, a call to healthcare professionals and researchers in the West of England. Evidence-based ideas are sought for initiatives or projects to improve healthcare. The West of England AHSN will work closely with chosen applicants …
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MSK Core Offer

MSK Core Offer

ARMA has welcomed the inclusion of references to MSK in the NHS Long Term Plan. The real challenge is how to implement this in the local NHS plans. ARMA has set out the “core offer” of MSK services and support which need to be implemented locally if the ambition of the long term plan is to be realised.
Read the document
Autoimmune Diseases Training Day

Autoimmune Diseases Training Day

King’s Health Partners Inter-Disciplinary Autoimmune Diseases Training Day - 13 April 2019. Presented by Dr. James Galloway, Christian Pankhurst, Matthew Collison & Rebecca Roopnarine. This free study day is open to all medical, nursing and AHP staff involved in managing patients with autoimmune conditions and will focus on the identification and management of musculoskeletal complications.
Read more

What’s new on the MSK Hub

The latest resources posted to the MSK Hub include a case study from The Institute of Osteopathy: "Measuring the positive quality impact of embedding osteopaths in a secondary care spinal unit."
Visit the MSK Hub.

ARMA Calendar

3 April 2019 2.30pm, Webinar: Managing child bearing with chronic MSK disease
10 April 2019 Early bird registration for BOA Congress opens
12-13 April 2019 NASS Voices community event, Cardiff
13 April 2019 King’s Health Partners Autoimmune Diseases Training Day
26 April 2019 Closing date for Evidence into Practice Challenge
8 May 2019 Fragility Fracture Network UK hip fracture review meeting
10-11 May 2019 NASS Voices community event, Southampton
21 May 2019 Core Skills in Musculoskeletal Care workshop, Manchester
4 June 2019 Early bird registration for BOA Congress closes
28 June 2019 RCN Rheumatology Nursing Workshop
10 July 2019 Core Skills in Musculoskeletal Care workshop, Birmingham
6-7 Sept 2019 NASS Voices community event, Leeds
10–13 Sept 2019 BOA Annual Congress
25 Sept 2019 Core Skills in Musculoskeletal Care workshop, London
17-19 Oct 2019 BMJD World Congress 2019, Taipei, Taiwan
23 Oct 2019 Core Skills in Musculoskeletal Care workshop, Leeds
15-16 Nov 2019 NASS Voices community event, London
10 Dec 2019 Core Skills in Musculoskeletal Care workshop, Glasgow
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