Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance
Influencing policy and care together for best lifelong musculoskeletal health
by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA
Happy New Year to all our readers. The start of the new year is a time to reflect on our successes in 2019 and to look forward to what can be done in 2020.
Some of my highlights from 2019 were the annual lecture on mental health and MSK, our roundtables on pain and on mental health and our webinars. The webinars have been very popular with thousands of people watching them live or in recording.…
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HMSA Chair, Hannah Ensor, was at St Thomas’s Hospital in November, manning an HMSA stand to make contact with a number of staff and patients. Hannah spread the HMSA’s awareness and positive self-management approach, and as always, the message was well received and the HMSA gained several new professional followers as a result!
In January HMSA has a new live event for members. #HypnOT is the brainchild of HMSA’s resident Occupational Therapist Jo Southall, and Kim Clayden, our Social Media Manager and a qualified Solution-Focused Psychotherapy & Clinical Hypnotherapist.…
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The Transformation of MSK Physiotherapy Services – a practical example
Friday 17 January 2020 12:30pm
What can services in England learn from a Scottish experience? General practice in Midlothian is currently experiencing considerable capacity and sustainability challenges, with MSK making up a significant proportion of this demand. Half the practices were operating with restricted lists as a result of increasing demand: a demand which is predicted to quickly rise as the influx of new housing has resulted in Midlothian being the fastest growing local authority area in Scotland.…
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Guest blog by William Pett – Senior Policy Advisor, NHS Confederation
As people grow older, health conditions often become both more complex and chronic. Evidence shows that rates of those living with multimorbidity rise significantly with age; a recent study revealed that 30% of adults aged 45 to 64 years report at least two chronic conditions, increasing to 65% of adults aged 65 to 84 years and more than 80% for those above 85 years old.
For older people living with multimorbidity, musculoskeletal conditions are common.…
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What everyone working with back pain needs to know about Cauda equina syndrome
Friday 21 February 2020, 12.30pm
Cauda equina syndrome (CES) is a rare condition that affects the nerves in the spine supplying the bladder, bowel and sexual function. Identification and subsequent urgent action is required to avoid permanent damage to these essential organs. Delays in diagnosis can have devastating and life changing consequences for patients and result in high cost negligence claims.
This webinar will be of interest to any health professional treating patients with low back pain, particularly those seeing this patient group in pre-surgical settings.…
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Versus Arthritis would like to thank everyone who supported their aims during the election campaign:
People can still add their voice by sending a message to the MP in their constituency about what it’s like to live with arthritis and why they need to take action. Visit the General Election page on the VA website.
NICE is developing a guideline on Behaviour change: digital and mobile health interventions and ARMA has been invited to register as a stakeholder.
If your organisation would like to register as a stakeholder for this guideline, please complete the online registration form which can be accessed via the topic webpage.
Organisations registered as stakeholders can comment on the draft scope and draft guideline, and contribute in other ways. Registered stakeholders will have the opportunity to comment on the draft guideline during consultation and all comments received from registered stakeholders will be considered and responded to individually.…
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You may have noticed that the PCR Society is now PCRMM – Primary Care Rheumatology & Musculoskeletal Medicine Society. The Society feels that this new name encompasses all of the conditions covered and will encourage more GPs, physios and AHPs to both join the Society and attend the conferences.
The PCRMM is pleased to welcome Lucy Douglas as the new President of the PCRMM. Elected at the recent AGM, she is a GP with a special interest in MSK, primary care rheumatology, and MSK ultrasound, currently working in East Lancashire and West Yorkshire.…
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In early December the initial cohort of the multi-year service improvement programme Aspiring to Excellence met for their first day of shared learning. The cohort, made up of members of the six teams awarded a place on the programme, began the process of planning for their department’s improvement aims.
The group will meet four times a year for three years and be given expert support to help catalyse across-the-board improvements in the availability of services and quality of care available for axial SpA patients.…
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Osteopaths can, and do, make a positive impact on the public’s health. We are focused on prevention and the maintenance of health and wellbeing – so it’s natural that we are considered part of a wider health workforce that can make every contact count.
Shirley Cramer, the CEO of Royal Society Public Health, shares her view of the role of osteopaths in social prescribing as the iO’s opening keynote speaker at iO Convention 2019. Watch the session here:
