Category: Commissioning

Over to you Prime Minister

ARMA CEOby Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

After two days in Belfast launching the ARMA MSK Health Inequalities report in Northern Ireland, I found myself on the plane back to England drafting the ARMA response to the Darzi report. I don’t think there are any new revelations in the report. Yet I do think it is important, and something everyone concerned about MSK health should take seriously. I recognise the truth in what it says.

Lord Darzi was asked to carry out an independent investigation into the NHS in England with a very short timescale.…

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The State of Musculoskeletal Health

The State of Musculoskeletal Health is a collection of the most up-to-date, UK-wide statistics on arthritis and other musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. This includes how many people have these conditions, the number at risk of developing these conditions, the impact of these on a person, on the health system and society, and inequalities that can be found within all the topics above. It is a resource for healthcare professionals, policy makers, public heath leads, researchers, people with these conditions, and anyone interested in MSK health.…

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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.…

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ESCAPE-pain part of framework to reduce community MSK waits

In January 2023, NHS England published “an improvement framework to reduce community musculoskeletal waits while delivering best outcomes and experience”.

Integrated high quality community musculoskeletal (MSK) services are integral to a productive, high-performing healthcare system supporting the management of MSK conditions. Most people with MSK conditions can be diagnosed and well managed in the community through programmes like ESCAPE-pain.

A smaller number require timely referral to secondary care orthopaedic, rheumatology, spinal or pain management services to enable best outcomes.

Most community MSK services have a triage function to support diagnosis and optimise referrals, and/or a therapies function to rehabilitate those who have sustained an injury or are recovering from surgery, as well as to help people best manage long-term MSK conditions.…

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New Community MSK Framework

An improvement framework to reduce community musculoskeletal waits while delivering best outcomes and experience

10 January 2023

A new improvement framework has just been published by NHS England.

It will support integrated care systems (ICSs) to reduce commissioned community MSK waiting times while delivering best outcomes and experience for patients. It includes defining principles, recommended actions across primary, community and secondary care and further resources.

Read the official publication here.

Another new Government

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

Local and national

Another new Government, another new(ish) Secretary of State for Health. From an MSK perspective, what should their priorities be? There are a few things that need to happen nationally, but my first thoughts are that we don’t now need a multitude of new government targets and promises. A lot of what is needed is local and local systems need to be given the space to deliver.

At a local level there are three things I think Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) need to do to deliver on MSK.…

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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.…

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CEO update: Promoting MSK health

The incidence of MSK conditions, particularly neck and shoulder pain, has gone up during the pandemic. This represents a significant amount of pain that would not have happened without the pandemic changing the way we live and work. Which got me wondering how much of the pre-pandemic MSK conditions would have been preventable.

MSK ill-health represents many thousands of lives impacted and restricted by pain and poor mobility. However great the services we have, prevention is the better option where possible.…

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CEO update: Patients with chronic pain deserve nothing less

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

I write this reflecting on my day yesterday, which was unexpectedly dominated by discussions on pain. Pain is, of course, something we all talk about a fair bit in the MSK health world, as it’s one of the shared factors that cuts across all MSK conditions. I’m increasingly realising it is something we don’t always deal with particularly well.

My day yesterday began with reading New Scientist on the train, including an article about UK doctors’ concerns that we will follow the US into an opioid crisis.…

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Fit For the Future: a Vision for General Practice

The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has published a vision for general practice for 2030. It sees a very different place for general practice from the current model, with increased multidisciplinary working and a greater focus on prevention and well-being. This was developed with the involvement of patients, GPs and other stakeholders.

This is a response to the changing nature of health needs with more people presenting with complex and multiple conditions. The current primary care workforce is stretched and the numbers of GPs per 1,000 of population have declined by 5% in the last ten years.…

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