Category: Health Policy

National Voices’ Manifesto for Equitable Healthcare

manifesto coverIn what is very likely to be an election year, National Voices have shared their Manifesto for Equitable Healthcare – which puts forth three general election priorities.

Co-produced with National Voices’ members, the manifesto is supported by a common theme – ensuring that the NHS works for all, not just those who know how to navigate the system or who come from more privileged backgrounds.

The manifesto seeks to remind politicians that adopting these priorities will not just improve things for patients but will also help drive NHS stability and wider economic benefits.…

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King’s Fund resources on health inequalities

As the conversation grows around health inequalities, we wanted to highlight three recent resources.

This King’s Fund podcast episode from 29th November explores how the NHS waiting list for elective care can be better managed to improve health equity. A really interesting discussion of the ethics, impact on patients and healthcare professionals, policy decisions and controversies around how waiting lists are managed and prioritised.

Ruth Roberston invites Dr Mark Ratnarajah, UK Managing Director at C2-Ai, Sharon Brennan, Director of Policy and External Affairs at National Voices and Dr Polly Mitchell, Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Bioethics and Public Policy at King’s College London to share their expertise. …

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Musculoskeletal orthopaedic approach to referral optimisation

MSK flow chartNHS England has published Musculoskeletal orthopaedic approach to referral optimisation, a guidance document developed by the Outpatient Recovery and Transformation Programme (OPRT) and BestMSK Health Collaborative.

This guidance describes the benefits of referral optimisation in adult services managing musculoskeletal conditions, focusing on the use of specialist advice to enable people to be seen by the right person, at the right time and in the right place.

It makes the case for change to sustain high quality care, manage risk and optimise capacity across primary, community and secondary care MSK services.…

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It’s not all about MSK

ARMA CEOby Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

A few days ago the Chief Medical officer, Chris Whitty, published his report for 2023 entitled health in an ageing society. I’m sure many of you will immediately seek out the MSK related content, skimming straight to the section on early diagnosis of osteoporosis or the case studies on ESCAPE-pain and MSK hubs. However, those are not the bits I think are most important for us.

The big take away message for me is the section on multi-morbidity.…

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Welsh Government’s Quality Statement on MSK Health

Quality Statement for Musculoskeletal Health

The quality statement describes what good quality musculoskeletal health services should look like.

First published: 12 October 2023

Last updated: 12 October 2023

The Wales MSK Conference took place in Cardiff on World Arthritis Day, 12 October 2023. ARMA CEO Sue Brown presented alongside the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Frank Atherton and the Health Minister, Eluned Morganon.

The Minister and the CMO delivered speeches covering the scale of the challenge in terms of the number of people living with MSK in Wales – nearly a million – as well as the impact of the conditions on quality of life; both spoke about the importance of primary and secondary prevention regarding MSK.…

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You own what you create: complexity and MSK services

ARMA CEOby Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

I have just finished facilitating one of our regional meetings bringing together stakeholders to talk about what’s happening at the local level with MSK services. It’s clear there is a lot of willingness to do something, despite a lot of confusion around who leads on MSK at an ICS level. A lot of questions were asked at the meeting. Where are the MSK targets being reported? Are the ICBs aware of what’s happening? We’ve got a case to introduce a Fracture Liaison Service, but how do we get anyone to listen?…

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Government’s sports strategy highlights role of MSK Hubs

Sports strategyThe government has announced ambitious plans to get an additional 3.5 million people physically active by 2030. The announcement was accompanied by the publication of a report, Get Active: A strategy for the future of sport and physical activity, which featured MSK Hubs as a case study of how sport and physical activity can help people ‘live healthier, longer and happier lives’.

The MSK Hubs programme recently secured £1.4m of funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of the Healthy Ageing Challenge to investigate how to transform leisure facilities into musculoskeletal (MSK) hubs which can be accessed in every community.…

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ARMA Welcomes Major Conditions Strategy

Policy Paper

Major conditions strategy: case for change and our strategic framework

Updated 16 August 2023

It is great to see MSK included in the Government’s Major Conditions Strategy Case for Change and Strategic Framework. This is a major step forward in recognising the impact MSK has on people’s lives and wider society. MSK is biggest cause of years lived with disability in the UK, and it’s recognition as a major condition on par with cancer and mental health is a positive step forward.…

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MSK and the Major Conditions Strategy

ARMA CEOby Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

Everyone working in or living with MSK conditions will have been delighted to read the interim report of the Major Conditions Strategy. MSK is recognised as a “major condition”. It has its own section alongside cancer, dementia, mental health and others. The same size, the same structure, the same status. It finally puts MSK where it belongs. Or should do.

There is so much to welcome in the document. The focus on prevention and personalisation. On treatments in the community and alignment of physical and mental health.…

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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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