by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA
Last week I attended a National Voices conference about ICS and the voluntary sector. One thing that really struck a chord with me was a speaker outlining his principles for collaborative success *:
- Mission before organisation
- Trust, not control
- Promote others not yourself
- Build constellations not stars
By the time you read this, the new statutory integrated care systems will have some into existence. If they follow these principles, they could contribute a lot to improve health services.
We all know that things are tough across the NHS. There are still far too many people waiting far too long for all kinds of MSK services. It would be easy to feel down about this (I know I do sometimes). Yet across the NHS I see people seizing opportunities. Waiting times are throwing a spotlight on MSK like never before and people are using this to set out what’s needed. Not just waiting times for joint replacement, but for community services as well. I hope that rheumatology will also get some spotlight from the new ICS, because the numbers may be smaller but the impact on people’s lives (and cost to the NHS of failure to act) is no less crucial.
What’s needed is not new. It’s not a quick fix, throwing money at the problem only to see everything collapse once the funding runs out, and everything goes back to the old ways of working. What’s needed is collaboration – everyone to work to the principles above. Especially the one about constellations not stars. In a meeting this week discussing orthopaedic surgery backlogs, a whole range of issues were mentioned. Nurses, anaesthetists, beds, operating theatres, community rehab, training, implant supply. A single star can’t solve all of this. We need the new ICS to be constellations, pulling all this together, including the patient organisations.
As well as the new ICS’s, we are seeing lots of new activity on MSK services. Take a look at the Best MSK Health update in this newsletter for information on the new London Region strategy, for instance. Take a look at the guest blog in this newsletter from Chloe Stewart for news of new tools to support personalised MSK care. Take a look at the articles setting out new activity by our members. I’m also looking forward to working with the newly elected ARMA Trustees, a new chair and vice chair who take forward the baton from our outgoing trustees, vice chair and chair, in a marathon challenge for better lives.
So many new beginnings need co-ordination and collaboration. We are all part of the same constellation.
* Thank you Ian Jones of Volunteer Cornwall for this. I hope my scribbled notes captured this accurately.