Category: CEO Update

A step change in the priority for MSK

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

I’m delighted to be writing, for the second time this year, about MSK getting a high profile in Government policy. Two months ago I wrote about the Major Conditions Strategy, and now we have a budget which included funding for MSK. By including the word musculoskeletal in such a major annual economic event, the speech has underlined the vital importance of MSK health to our country and our economy.

The budget included three initiatives for MSK:

  • Digital resources for MSK and Mental Health – £310 million over 5 years
  • MSK Hubs – £20 million over 4 years
  • Increase employment advisers in health settings (including MSK services) – £150 million over 5 years

This is a lot of money, although given the numbers of people with MSK conditions, nowhere near as much as it sounds.…

Read more of this article

Making good MSK health for all a reality

I am writing this on International Women’s Day, thinking about the many different facets of inequalities in musculoskeletal health. Deprivation is one of the most significant drivers, which is why we have chosen to focus our inquiry on deprivation. However, we know there are other factors including ethnicity, age, sex and gender.

Women are disproportionately affected by MSK conditions: 35% of women compared with 28% of men experience an MSK condition, (Versus Arthritis). So I was pleased that the Women’s Health Ambassador recently organised a roundtable about the women’s health strategy for England and MSK health.…

Read more of this article

Major conditions strategy: parity for MSK?

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

Last month the Government announced a new major conditions strategy. In the past ARMA’s response to such an announcement would be “what about MSK? That’s a major condition contributing hugely to the burden of disease in England.” Not this time.

I will admit to being surprised to read the list of six conditions included and find musculoskeletal disorders was one of them. Pleasantly surprised. Finally, in this one document at least, MSK seems to have parity with other conditions.…

Read more of this article

Championing MSK in public health

ARMA CEOVery early in my time as CEO of ARMA I met Nuzhat Ali, who led on MSK public health at what was then Public Health England. Nuzhat is a tireless champion of the importance of MSK health and its central role in public health. “There’s no health without MSK health” she told the ARMA AGM a few years ago.

Steve Brine MP, Chair of the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, was recently recently quoted as saying: “If we don’t prevent ill health in this country better than we are, then the NHS in itself is not sustainable and that is a terrifying situation.”…

Read more of this article

Will we be brave enough?

Ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 17 November, ARMA wrote to the Chancellor to outline the impact of the cost of living crisis on people with MSK conditions and the importance of the NHS for growth in the economy. I don’t think I was alone in fearing that the statement would see cuts in funding for the NHS and social care. Thankfully those fears were unfounded, although many feel that the funding announced was not enough.

We asked three things in the letter:

  • That cost of living support be targeted at those who need it most, including those with health conditions where keeping warm is important.
…

Read more of this article

A week to focus on health equalities

I was delighted last week to be able to join NHS England’s Health Inequalities Improvement Board to present on the importance of MSK health for equalities. I am also delighted that Bola Owolabi, Director of NHS England’s National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme, has written the guest blog for the October issue of our newsletter.

We’ve chosen to highlight equalities during Bone and Joint Week this year because it is critically important. Poor MSK health contributes to and exacerbates health inequalities. MSK is fundamental to our ability to work, socialise, move, eat a good diet – in fact, all the things that enable us to stay healthy.…

Read more of this article

Thinking wider about workforce

I saw a tweet this morning from a local provider partnership seeking exercise instructors willing to train in falls management. The challenge of workforce is ever present in the NHS right now. I think we need to think more creatively and use the breadth of the workforce we have if we are ever to deliver on our ambition to improve the MSK health of the population and ensure excellent services for those who need them.

Community MSK is the backbone of MSK.…

Read more of this article

Community-powered MSK Health?

It’s been exciting in the last two years to be working with the BestMSK Health team at NHS England, and now also with MSK improvement work in Wales. There’s been lots of talk about co-production, self-management support, reducing inequalities and a focus on prevention. The direction is very much one that ARMA can support. Then I read A Community Powered NHS from New Local and I started to wonder if we are being brave enough, going far enough, thinking big enough.…

Read more of this article

Constellations, not stars

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

Last week I attended a National Voices conference about ICS and the voluntary sector. One thing that really struck a chord with me was a speaker outlining his principles for collaborative success *:

  • Mission before organisation
  • Trust, not control
  • Promote others not yourself
  • Build constellations not stars

By the time you read this, the new statutory integrated care systems will have some into existence. If they follow these principles, they could contribute a lot to improve health services.…

Read more of this article

Making support for people in pain a reality

Media coverage of MSK conditions and pain is rare. Good coverage even more uncommon. So it was great to see the BBC focus on chronic pain on 11 May. A week earlier, coverage of the NICE draft guidelines on managing arthritis generated headlines such as “Exercise instead of taking painkillers, arthritis sufferers told.” Unsurprisingly this resulted in outcry from those who rely on pain medication to manage their arthritis, especially those who really need surgery but are on unacceptably long waiting lists after the pandemic.…

Read more of this article