Category: CEO Update

Not just another NHSE initiative

I have just returned from the BSR conference where it was good to catch up with ARMA members, key stakeholders and make new connections. Watching the contributions of patient organisations to the conference I was struck again by the huge role that the voluntary sector can play in good MSK health.

So, it is good to see this feature increasingly in the BestMSK Health messaging. Phrases such as “consider referral to third sector/voluntary sector for ongoing management rehabilitation and support” appear in many of the programme’s resources.…

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A future where no one sees community MSK services as a low priority

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

The King’s Fund has just published the results of the British Social Attitudes Survey (BSAR) questions on satisfaction with the NHS. Satisfaction has dropped by 17 percentage points since last year’s survey, with more people now being dissatisfied than satisfied with the NHS. The main reasons are waiting times (for GPs and hospital appointments), staff shortages and that the government does not spend enough money on the NHS. No one with any connection to health services will be surprised by any of this.…

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Integration: It takes time to turn a tanker

On 11 February a policy paper, Health and social care integration: joining up care for people, places and populations, was published. BestMSK Health with its focus on cross-system, whole-pathway working including prevention seems to me to embody everything the White paper is talking about. I was pleased to see that it includes a commitment to improve pathways for MSK, but there is so much more to integration and MSK health than that. Here’s how I see the principles of the integration White paper playing out in MSK.…

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Learning to live with the virus – collectively

As Plan B ends in England and the other nations in the UK remove different aspects of COVID protections, the news is all of learning to live with the virus and getting back to normal. For very many people with MSK conditions this is not the experience. Whether it is people facing long waits for treatment or people taking medication that puts them at increased risk, living with the virus and its consequences is harder for some.

As Plan B ends, ARMA members’ helplines are again flooded with calls from people who are immunosuppressed, worried about their needs being forgotten again.…

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On the precipice

We all look forward to 2022 with some trepidation. We don’t know how much impact Omicron will have on the NHS, the population, and our own families. 2021 was a year of challenge and also of incredible achievements. A vaccination programme which has now provided all adults with the opportunity for three doses, four in some cases; which has delivered boosters to three quarters of the eligible population; which delivered 1.6 million boosters in the final week of the year. None of this just happened.…

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Celebrating progress

2021 has been a year of progress for ARMA and for MSK. We know that all our readers will be feeling exhausted. This has been a tough year for anyone working in health. It has also been the year when MSK began to get the profile it deserves with the new Best MSK Health programme in England and development of a new MSK Framework and clinical leads in Wales. We all know that we need to do things differently, that the pandemic has only made worse those problems that already existed.…

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Collaboration, prevention and community: opportunities in MSK

We are all aware of the increasingly desperate need to restore NHS services. Our patient member organisations tell us of the calls they are getting from people who can’t access the services they need. Private practitioners such as physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractors report high levels of activity as those who can afford to pay for services, and their concerns about those who can’t afford to pay. Clearly this must be a priority, but how can we do this differently, not just pile pressure on an exhausted and depleted NHS workforce?…

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Collaboration is for life

This month sees Bone and Joint Week and I am looking forward to cutting the ribbon at our virtual launch event and declaring the week open. It’s a week of celebration of the importance of musculoskeletal health and its role in enabling us to live independent healthy lives. It’s a chance of all of us to come together and celebrate the role we play in promoting good MSK health and support for those with MSK conditions. All of us, those living with MSK conditions, professionals and patient organisations must be partners if we are to realise ARMA’s vision.…

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Social prescribing – a vital role in MSK health

This month I have been working on a resource for social prescribing link workers which ARMA plans to publish in the autumn. It’s made me reflect on what a valuable role link workers can play in MSK health. We know that many people with MSK conditions need support with their mental health or have become lonely or isolated as result of their condition. Added to this they may have other conditions which are harder to manage as a result of their MSK health.…

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CEO update: Change is possible

The NHS England BestMSK Health Collaborative has been making great progress during July. It’s fantastic to see the amount of focus that MSK is getting and the fact that the work is about systems, not individual services. If you haven’t already, I would urge you to sign up to the NHS Futures site so that you can access the resources and see progress. The latest publication is a High Impact Strategy with a series of recommendations spanning primary, secondary and community, and every MSK speciality.…

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