Health Policy Articles

Global burden of disease study“Health policy across the world has ignored diseases which affect the quality of lives and independence of people living with them and focused on those with high mortality such on cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Now with people living longer it is time for priority to be placed on dealing with this enormous burden from arthritis, back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions to prevent unnecessary pain and disability and enable people to keep independent.’’

Professor Anthony Woolf, Chair of the Bone and Joint Decade (BJD) International Co-ordinating Council, from the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro The Global Burden of Disease study 2010, researched by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, is the first comprehensive study of the impact of all diseases and risk factors worldwide. The GBD data referring to the UK points to musculoskeletal conditions as being responsible for nearly one third of the entire national burden of disability.

Health Policy in the Media

Articles posted on external websites. Prioritising Musculoskeletal Disorders Click to read article

“By making musculoskeletal care a priority, the government and NHS can make significant savings in healthcare as well as for the economy. It is time to bring these conditions and the people who live with them to the forefront of health policy to enable better management and outcomes as well as much-needed financial savings.’’

In November 2012, Vicky Chamberlain of the Royal College of Nursing Rheumatology Forum published an article titled Prioritising musculoskeletal disorders makes economic sense, in which she advocates a coordinatation of musculoskeletal care to help the NHS make significant savings. The Real Challenges Facing the NHS

Musculoskeletal disorders are very broad and do not always fit neatly into our current, biomedically-dominated approach to delivering, and measuring outcomes in, healthcare. They are often complex, are associated with many co-morbidities and many of them tend to fluctuate.

Federico Moscogiuri and GP Dr Tom Margham, lead for primary care at Arthritis Research UK, co-author an article in GP Online which interprets the findings of the Global Burden of Disease report. Musculoskeltal disorders can be managed effectively in primary care Click to read gponline article

Early diagnosis, prompt referral and specialist intervention is essential for some inflammatory forms of arthritis, for example rheumatoid arthritis. But many people with MSDs, the vast majority of whom have osteoarthritis, can be managed effectively in primary care, if the care they receive includes a strong element of self-management and support to remain independent.

Dr Alan Nye and Federico Moscogiuri, our director, co-authored this article on shared-decision making, spending variation and consultant-led pathways. It was published in gponline.com. Is back, neck and muscle pain hurting the UK economy? Click to read BBC article

Almost 31 million days of work were lost in 2013 due to back, neck and muscle problems, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The Labour Force Survey found that musculoskeletal conditions accounted for more prolonged absences than any other ailment.

This research from the ONS highlights the enormous impact of MSK disorders on work, and by extension the UK economy. Read the accompanying article by the BBC Business reporter, Joe Miller.

The Health and Social Care Network

Click to read National Voices article

Every time you get people in health to talk about the big issues facing the sector, you can be sure that the issue of joined-up working and joined-up care will come up. And when you start talking about joined-up working, you’re not far from talking about networks.

Read this post by ARMA’s Federico Moscogiuri on the National Voices website.

Health Policy Presentations

See full-size image

“How do we get policy makers to take musculoskeletal health and conditions seriously?”

This chart is taken from a fascinating, illustrative document by Professor Anthony D Woolf, of the Bone and Joint Decade.

Better-healthcare-systems-Muir-Gray

Building Healthcare Systems

Muir Gray’s powerpoint presentation suppied by Better Value Healthcare.

 

 

Recent Health Policy Posts

The following are a selection of ARMA members’ posts from the last few months of our arthritis news feed that have been categorised as relating to Health Policy.

Welsh Government Consultation: Arthritis and MSK Framework 16/03/2024 - The Welsh Government has opened a consultation on the draft guidance document, Living with arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions: a framework for the future.  The new framework is one of several tools that will guide service development and delivery for MSK conditions from 2024 to 2028. The consultation is seeking views to shape the vision, mission and… ...
Osteopathy exhibits at the House of Commons 16/03/2024 - In early March the Council of Osteopathic Educational Institutions (COEI) exhibited at the prestigious Upper Waiting Hall at the House of Commons. Gaining access to such an influential audience in an election year is a unique opportunity to focus on the future of MSK Health and osteopathy’s role in providing local community MSK care. For… ...
Of course we can 18/02/2024 - by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA The majority of people with an MSK condition will rarely, if ever, need secondary care for that condition. All of them will need primary and community care. This is where people access MSK rehab, self-management support and a wide variety of treatment. Yet the main focus of the NHS remains… ...
Royal Osteoporosis Society’s Better Bones campaign 14/02/2024 - The Royal Osteoporosis Society is continuing its Better Bones campaign with the Sunday Express for universal, quality Fracture Liaison Services. In the lead up to the Budget, ROS would greatly appreciate it if you were able to raise the campaign and its aims in any meetings you have with Parliamentarians or officials and post on… ...
National Voices’ Manifesto for Equitable Healthcare 13/02/2024 - In 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… ...
King’s Fund resources on health inequalities 12/12/2023 - 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… ...
Musculoskeletal orthopaedic approach to referral optimisation 22/11/2023 - NHS 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… ...
It’s not all about MSK 18/11/2023 - by 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… ...
See the rest of our ARMA members’ posts tagged with ‘health policy’.