Guest Blog | ARMA

Guest blog: Dancing on the Rusty Brown Carpet

by Victoria Wells, a personal reflection about a new play with a theme of dancing for health – how a work of theatrical art relates to my experience of joint replacement surgery, pre-operative rehab, post-op rehabilitation and a lifetime of dancing.

On 3 October 2020, a play by Fiona Hamilton will be screened for the first time.
My experience contributed to one of its main characters.

As a child I enjoyed dancing and getting lost in the rhythm. I was born with hip dysplasia that was not diagnosed until mid-childhood and, as a result, I walked with constant pain.…

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Power to the people: Coproducing the National Musculoskeletal Strategy

JOIN THE TWEETCHAT ‘Power to the people’ – Coproducing MSK 21 Sept 2020, 7-8pm #MSKCoPro

This guest blog was coproduced by :-
Mark Agathangelou, Lived Experience Group member;
Aimee Robson, Head of Personalised Care (Clinical, Workforce & Quality);
Andrew Bennett, National Clinical Director MSK conditions;
Cristina Serrao, Lived Experience Ambassador;
and Helen Lee, Experience of Care Professional Lead.

In this blog, Musculoskeletal (MSK) leads within NHS England and Improvement and people with lived experience consider why coproduction is the golden thread of achieving the highest quality care that is valued by all.…

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Guest blog: the Change Challenge Collaborative

by Greta McLachlan, Fellow at the Strategic planning and development cell, NHS England and Improvement, part of the Change Challenge Collaborative.

The change challenge collaborative is a group of professionals who have come together to work across the MSK, orthopaedic and rheumatology specialties to try and capture beneficial changes that have occurred within the NHS during COVID- 19. The aim being to try and capture these changes and ideas to ensure that these innovations are not lost when the NHS comes out of its pandemic measures.…

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How do you make care person-centred for the child and family?

Guest blog by Nina Davies, Project Lead: Integrating Long Term Condition Training and Development, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust; Co-Chair Children’s Podiatry Special Advisory Group, The College of Podiatry

Person-centred care (‘person first’ or ‘child and family centred care’) is a term to reflect treating the whole person, encompassing physical, mental and social wellness, environment and personal circumstances. It is an approach which looks beyond the symptoms of a disease and aims to meet the person’s needs and priorities before those of the system or a professional.…

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The changing landscape of orthopaedic services in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

Guest blog by

Cormac Kelly, Consultant Upper Limb Surgeon at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

and

Peter Kay, National Orthopaedic Alliance (NOA) Lead Clinician and Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The COVID-19 crisis has changed the delivery of planned orthopaedic surgery drastically. As the pandemic continues to subside, the NHS, with various guidance from Public Health England, Medical and Surgical Colleges, the British Orthopaedic Association, and others, is working on a plan to get surgery back on track.…

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Guest blog: MSK First Contact Practitioner roles

MSK First Contact Practitioner roles; are they fit for the future for Primary Care?

by
Amanda Hensman-Crook FCSP, HEE AHP National Clinical Fellow, Consultant MSK Physiotherapist
Neil Langridge FCSP, Consultant MSK Physiotherapist
Laura Finucane FCSP, MSK Consultant MSK Physiotherapist
Chris Mercer FCSP, MSK Consultant MSK Physiotherapist

MSK First Contact Practitioner roles and the advancing practice agenda is moving at pace and as a result, there has been some anxiety around the MSK First Contact workforce. This has been expressed about several aspects of the roles, including:

numbers needed to ensure sustainability without wider destabilisation of the MSK workforce
where the workforce will come from with the requisite capability
concern about governance of the roles
who provides the supervision and support
a general need to understand the offer of the role to primary care
concern from other MSK professions that they are not included in the GP contract reimbursement scheme (DES) and where they might fit in the bigger picture.

…

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Footwear fit for function – how do we choose the right shoes?

By Dr Helen Branthwaite, MSK Project Lead, College of Podiatry.

The rapid changes in shoe design and the increasing number of choices that occur in the footwear market might make a consumer with painful feet quiver at the thought of buying any new shoes. Yet, humans have been wearing shoes on their feet for thousands of years as protection against the environment. Problems have only been recorded in the last 600 years when shoes have been used more as a fashion statement as well as a status symbol.…

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Guest blog: A Decade of Real Change

by Clare Jacklin, Chief Executive, NRAS

I heard a good joke during the Christmas break –

Question: What do you think next year will bring?
Answer: How would I know…? I don’t have 2020 vision!

Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.”

Now, I’m not for a moment saying we’re all going insane but I wonder how many of you reading this feel (as I do) a sense of déjà vu that we’ve heard the same thing over and over but little change has occurred.…

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How integrated care is set to improve outcomes for those with comorbidities

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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Guest blog: The fight against fragility fractures

by Ellie Davies, Acting Project Manager, Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme (FFFAP)

The challenge:

520,000 cases of fragility fracture occur every year amongst those (primarily over-50s) suffering with the bone-weakening disease known as osteoporosis. That is 520,000 broken bones caused by as little as slipping in the shower, stepping off a curb even. This is not only a huge economic burden on the NHS, approximately £5.25 billion, but an epidemic that has lasting physical and emotional repercussions for sufferers. It is upsetting to learn that 42% of older people say that osteoporosis has made them feel more socially isolated.…

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