MSK & Arthritis News

New patient-led charity, new podcast

IAUK bannerInflammatory Arthritis UK (IAUK) is a new patient-led charity run by volunteers living with inflammatory arthritis. Their vision and mission centres on inspiring resilience and empowering lives for anyone of any age living with inflammatory arthritis. They will be providing people with the support, guidance and resources they need to take control of lives and navigate uncertain times with confidence and resilience.

“Great idea for a charity, I have found attitude and resilience to have been the most important things so far and have certainly been a on a massive journey the last couple of years with it (IA)”.…

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Supporting people with chronic conditions

The Welsh Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee has published its report Supporting people with chronic conditions.

The report makes a number of urgent recommendations to the Welsh Government to ensure that people currently living with chronic conditions are being properly supported and are receiving the services they need to manage their care.

You can read ARMA’s evidence to the Committee here.

You can read the full report here.

Getting the most out of your appointments

The Patients Association has launched two resources, an animation and a guide, which provide patients with the knowledge and tools they need so they are prepared to get the most out of their care. This includes:

  • ensuring they are prepared;
  • guidance on how they can prevent things going wrong;
  • steps they can take at each stage of their journey through the healthcare system.

The advice covers before, during and after appointments, focusing on communication, sharing information, and accessibility.

Both the animation and the guide can be viewed and downloaded from the Patients Association website.…

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Adult Orthopaedic Trauma report

trauma reportAdult Orthopaedic Trauma GIRFT Programme National Specialty Report

The GIRFT Programme has published its Adult Orthopaedic Trauma National Specialty Report.

The report illustrates how multidisciplinary governance can work well, and highlights governance arrangements that can be used in adult orthopaedic trauma services.

The report’s recommendations for providers and systems aim to deliver a service that is more equitable, more responsive to best practice guidance and continuously reduces unwarranted variation.

You can read the full report here.

Introducing the GIRFT MSK community delivery programme

Dr Lesley Kay, NHS England National Clinical Director (NCD) for musculoskeletal (MSK), invites you to join our webinar on Thursday 6th March at 12.30 – 13.30 to discuss the GIRFT MSK community delivery programme.

Register here

The GIRFT MSK community delivery programme, funded by the Government’s Joint Work and Health Directorate (JWHD), is working to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future.…

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Review of JIA Care

NCEPODA report into JIA care from the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death has just been published. Joint Care? A review of the quality of care provided to children and young adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis covers care pathways, transition to adult services, access to medications, holistic care and education and training. It sets out recommendations for improvement.

Recommendations

  • Raise awareness of juvenile idiopathic arthritis and its symptoms with the healthcare professionals who will see this group of patients.
…

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Registration for NOA Annual Conference closes on 1st May

The NOA Conference and Awards takes place on 15 May 2025 at the Birmingham Conference & Events Centre (BCEC). NOA members can register here.

The CPD accredited NOA Conference – which is free to attend for NOA members – brings together clinicians and healthcare professionals from multi-disciplinary backgrounds within orthopaedics.

The conference promises a day filled with knowledge sharing, networking, and celebrating achievements. The agenda includes keynote addresses from leading figures in orthopaedics and musculoskeletal (MSK) health, presentations from NOA awards finalists, and various sessions from NOA networks.

Sport Rehab Advice on BBC

BASRaT registered sport rehabilitator, Adam Naylor gave advice on the BBC’s Morning Live programme in early February. It was in a news piece that followed two runners struggling with injuries. In the item, Adam explains factors affecting injury and carries out an assessment on each runner. Following the assessment, Adam provides personalised advice on how best to help, highlighting how a sport rehabber delivers effective, person-centred rehabilitation.

BASRaT has a dedicated running guide that benefits both beginners and those already running.…

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Not all about hospitals

ARMA CEOby Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

It was fantastic to see the launch in December of a new GIRFT programme to support reduction in community MSK waiting times. A funded programme of activity on MSK to work with 17 integrated care systems (ICSs) with the highest waiting lists for elective community MSK services. The focus is to reduce waiting times for a community MSK appointment; to improve access to MSK treatment and support people back to work.

January saw the launch of the elective care recovery plan, focused on getting us back to meeting the target of 92% of waits for planned hospital treatment being no more than 18 weeks.…

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New patient decision aid on knee osteoarthritis for primary care

NHS England and NICE have worked together to produce new patient decision aids (also known as Decision Support Tools) last year, including one on knee osteoarthritis. These were developed in accordance with NICE’s standards framework for shared-decision-making support tools, and support making decisions about:

  • Self-management activities
  • Using treatments like tablets, creams and injections
  • Surgery, or wearing special shoes

Patient decision aids enable shared decision making by making treatment, care and support options explicit. They provide evidence-based information about the associated benefits/harms and help people consider what matters most to them in relation to the possible outcomes, including doing nothing.