by Adrian Bradley, CEO, Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA)
May 2026
Like many people working across health and care, I watched the latest ministerial changes with mixed feelings. A new Health Secretary always brings uncertainty. Priorities can shift, momentum can be lost, relationships need to be rebuilt, but moments like this also create opportunity.
For those of us working to improve musculoskeletal (MSK) health, a new Health Secretary is a chance to make a simple but important case: MSK health must become a national priority.
Too often, MSK is treated as a specialist concern rather than a foundational one. Over 20 million people in the UK live with an MSK condition. Those 20 million people are not an abstract statistic. They are the woman who gives up work because pain and fatigue become too much. The grandfather who stops playing with his grandchildren because movement has become difficult. The person waiting months or years for treatment that could restore independence.
If the Government is serious about prevention, healthy life expectancy, economic participation and NHS reform, it cannot afford to overlook MSK health.
When people cannot move well, they cannot live well.
MSK conditions are a leading cause of pain, disability and economic inactivity. They place huge pressure on general practice, community services, hospitals and social care. They intersect with obesity, cardiovascular health, mental health, frailty and healthy ageing. In short, MSK health is not a niche issue sitting at the margins of the health system. It sits at the centre of many of the challenges policymakers are trying to solve.
A new Health Secretary will inherit immediate pressures. Waiting times, NHS performance and service recovery will rightly demand attention but alongside that, there is an opportunity to think longer term about the foundations of a healthier nation.
That means making prevention real, not rhetorical. It means recognising that neighbourhood health must include strong community MSK services, rehabilitation and support for self-management. It means understanding the vital connection between MSK health and the Government’s work and health ambitions.
And it means recognising that progress requires visible leadership.
ARMA has consistently argued that MSK deserves greater national attention because improving MSK health helps unlock progress across the wider system.
This is a moment for fresh thinking.
The question for any new Health Secretary is not simply how to manage today’s pressures, but how to build a healthier, more productive and more independent population for the future.
MSK health should be part of that answer.
As ARMA’s Chief Executive, I want this new chapter in health leadership to be one where MSK is finally recognised for what it is: fundamental to how people live, work and age well.