Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance
Influencing policy and care together for best lifelong musculoskeletal health
On 22 September 2018, NASS will be in Stirling, Scotland for the first in a series of regional Community Engagement Conferences. In a new style event for NASS, we will be bringing together healthcare professionals, people with AS, other patient organisations and researchers.
Find more event details here including the event programme.
NASS welcomes the publication by NICE of a set of Quality Standards for Spondyloarthritis. Now we need to ensure that they are implemented effectively across the country so that every AS patient, every time, gets early diagnosis and high quality care.
The NICE Quality Standard for Spondyloarthritis covers four areas:
The inaugural Brain, Mind and Pain Grant announced its winners in June, naming three innovative, patient-centred projects:
Guest blog by Tom Embury, Public Affairs Officer, British Dietetic Association.
The Allied Health Professions most commonly associated with arthritis and MSK conditions are probably our colleagues in Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, but the British Dietetic Association (BDA) believe dietitians have a key role to play in supporting patients and working with colleagues as part of multidisciplinary teams to prevent and treat these conditions.
The BDA is one of the world’s oldest nutrition and dietetic bodies and represents the 9,000 or so dietitians working in the UK, as well as students, dietetic assistants and affiliate members.…
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Time is running out to become a Champion of Musculoskeletal Care. The deadline for this unique opportunity is 17 June 2018.
Arthritis Research UK, together with Ashridge Executive Education, have created a bespoke leadership initiative with the aim of driving forward tangible improvements in MSK services within the local health systems of each Champion.
We are looking for individuals who are involved in the design, commissioning and/or delivery of musculoskeletal care, including front-line clinicians, public health practitioners, commissioners and service managers.…
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In March, Dame Carol Black presented a TED Talk on retirement, in which she asked: are we doomed to spend the 30 or 40 years in bed – or could retirement be the start of a new chapter?
Watch the video here on Youtube.
EMEUNET (the Emerging Eular NETwork) and the EULAR School of Rheumatology have launched an online educational initiative called Twitter Journal Club, facilitated by experienced rheumatologists. The aim is to allow Twitter users to participate in a discussion with colleagues around the world about recent key papers in rheumatology.
Each month details of the article selected for the Journal Club as well as the EMEUNET paper of the month will be available for download on our the EMEUNET website. You can also have a look at the previous Journal Club sessions.…
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The new NHS Workforce Health and Wellbeing Framework is now available. This is the result of two years’ work with NHS organisations, NHS Employers, NHS Improvement, Public Health England and a range of voluntary sector and government partners. The NHSE appreciate the MSK-specific expertise that we have shared with them on behalf of ARMA.
The Framework will support NHS organisations through an easy-to-use diagnostic tool and a comprehensive range of guidance against fourteen core organisational enablers and health interventions proven to improve staff health and wellbeing.…
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In May 2018, The European League Against Rheumatism published a set of recommendations designed to help health professionals implement approaches to pain management in inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis patients. The aim is to reduce pain and the burden on the individual and society.
Pain is the predominant symptom for people with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and osteoarthritis (OA), mandating the development of new, evidence-based EULAR Recommendations for the health professional’s approach to pain management in inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis.
The target users of these recommendations are health professionals in the field of rheumatology, including rheumatologists. …
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Innovation, transformation, improvement; everyone is trying to change health services for the better from NHS England to ARMA and each of our members, from the top and the centre to the local and the frontline.
There is also a lot being written about this. Last month’s guest blog looked at a report from the innovation unit with the Health Foundation on spread of innovation in the NHS. This month I’ve been reading a report from the Kings Fund on transformation. The report, or at least the summary, is worth a read; even though the four examples are not MSK-related, the key messages are very relevant.…
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