Whether you are an elite athlete, weekend warrior or an everyday active person the musculoskeletal care pathway for rehabilitation is the same

Guest Blog by Dr Jo Larkin, Sport and Exercise Medicine Consultant FFSEM

The knowledge and principles used to treat elite professional athletes in Sport and Exercise Medicine can be used to treat injuries occurring in the rest of the population.

The musculoskeletal (MSK) rehabilitation plan must consider the fact that the objective of the patient is to return to the same activity and environment in which the injury occurred. Functional capacity after rehabilitation should at the minimum be to at the same level, if not better, than before injury.…

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My Message to Back Pain Sufferers

Guest blog by Dr Brian Hammond D.O.D.C Ph.D. FCC (Orth) PG Cert, Chair of BackCare

There are very many back and neck pain sufferers in the UK.  The cost to the Exchequer and industry is staggering.  In this country, about 2.5 million people experience back pain every day of the year.  Although statistics vary, treatment for back pain and disability payments as a result of back problems costs the tax payer billions of pounds a year.  As a consequence, millions of working days are lost. …

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Could long-term conditions reach the point where patients are actually driving the research agenda?

by Kate Gilbert, PhD, Project Lead for PMRGCAuk’s Rheuma Research Roadshows

I’m writing this on a train on a February evening, feeling worn out but excited, a state of mind familiar to any development worker who has just launched a major project. In this case, the PMRGCAuk team have just held the first of our Research Roadshows, funded by a grant from the Wellcome Trust, focusing on Giant Cell Arteritis and Polymyalgia Rheumatica. The roadshows are going to take place at research hubs around the country. …

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Realising the Value

nv-mccracken_250What is a good outcome?

We’re two years into delivery of the Five Year Forward View, the document heralded as a blueprint for bridging the gaps in finance, quality and prevention. Chapter Two of that seminal document sets out a vision for a ‘new relationship with people and communities’…

But what does that actually mean?

The Realising the Value programme has spent 18 months seeking to turn those words into a more deliverable reality. It is an important body of work delivered by Nesta, the Health Foundation, National Voices, Regional Voices, NAVCA, Volunteering Matters and others.…

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Tackling MSK conditions in the workplace requires a joined-up approach

dr-justin-varney-phe-nlGuest blog by Dr Justin Varney, National Lead for Adult Health and Wellbeing, Public Health England

Musculoskeletal health issues, along with mental health issues, continue to account for the majority of sickness absence in the UK. It is estimated that 9.5 million working days are lost each year due to musculoskeletal health problems and over a third of all long-term sickness absence in England.

MSK conditions can affect people at any age and at any point in their career. One in eight people of working age in the UK have a musculoskeletal issue and the prevalence of MSK conditions in the workforce is projected to increase to affect over 7 million people by 2030, a reflection of the impact of the ageing working profile.…

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We need to rethink “best treatment”

Paul-Hitchcockby Paul Hitchcock, Chief Executive Officer of the British Acupuncture Council

We have an ageing population. Many of that population have multiple conditions. We have already reached a situation where the provision of health and care is problematic under the current system; too many people with too many conditions with insufficient cash or workforce capacity to enable their support.

Yet the system continues to take a reductive approach to treatments and support services. Commissioners or policy makers stop services or treatments when a new innovation is proposed so that, although they can claim to be cutting edge, in reality the system provides less support to fewer people and reduces patient choice at the same time.…

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Guest Blog: How can we support people working and managing MSDs?

RobYeldham-nlby Rob Yeldham, Director of Strategy, Policy & Engagement for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

Musculoskeletal disorders are the largest cause of disability in the UK. Some conditions may be caused by, or exasperated by, work. Others are not work related but impact on the ability of people to work. Only around six in ten working age people with an MSK are in work. Many people with arthritis are hiding their condition at work for fear of their employer’s reaction. So how can we support people working and managing MSDs?…

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Guest Blog: RightCare and MSK: increasing value and reducing variation

Matthew-Cripps-nl1by Professor Matthew Cripps, National Director of NHS RightCare

It’s now six months since NHS RightCare was launched nationally. This involved 65 local health economies (‘wave one’) receiving support and facilitation to embed the approach, and we’re still growing as a programme to roll out to the 144 remaining health economies in England at the end of 2016.

Things are progressing at pace with the first 65, we’re at the exciting point now where CCGs have confirmed their big opportunities for improvement, taking Commissioning for Value insight as their starting point.…

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Guest Blog: All hands on deck to tackle rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases

bPeter-Lanyon-nl1y Dr Peter Lanyon, Consultant Rheumatologist, Nottingham University Hospital;
President, British Society for Rheumatology

Two months ago, at our annual national conference on the banks of the Clyde, it was a privilege to start my elected term of office as President of the British Society for Rheumatology. And I’m very excited to be serving BSR in this role. Our members are front-line clinicians, nurses and allied health professionals working across the health community. Every day, and sometimes 24/7, they deliver care to try and improve the lives of people living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.…

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Guest Blog: Solving the puzzle of Musculoskeletal Service transformation

by Professor Peter Kay, National Clinical Director for Musculoskeletal Services for NHS England.

Peter-Kay_nlI was asked to write a blog to raise the profile of my MSK work supported by the Long-Term Conditions Team and, through the cryptic labyrinth of various schemes and initiatives, share with you my thoughts on how we can support sustainable, cost-effective transformation whilst still championing the more person-centred approach.

Easy task right?

Increasingly we are faced with the challenge of implementing population-level interventions in a bid to tackle unwarranted variation within our local areas.…

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