Arthritis News & Musculoskeletal News from ARMA's Members

Recent publications on health inequalities

There have been a number of publications and toolkits on health inequalities published in recent weeks. These are not MSK-specific but will include useful information, data and resources for those working in MSK.

Illustrating the relationship between poverty and NHS services is a long read from the Kings Fund.

Health inequalities in 2040
Current and projected patterns of illness by deprivation in England.
The Health Foundation lists chronic pain as one of the 4 conditions projected to increase at a faster rate in more deprived areas.…

Read more of this article

Act together. Act Now.

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

It is hard to overstate what a privilege it was to join so many of those who contributed to the Act Now report in Westminster last week. The report exemplifies the ARMA approach of doing things together which none of us could do alone. The energy in the room and the commitment to making a difference was amazing. I feel that MSK is demonstrating what NHS England’s Core20+5 approach looks like in practice.

Our recent FOI requests to ICBs have elicited some responses along the lines of MSK isn’t one of the Core20+5 conditions so we aren’t prioritising it.…

Read more of this article

NOA Physician Associates webinar – part 2

NOA Webinar: Physician Associates in Orthopaedic Services – Part 2

Date: 1 May 2024 at 1pm
Venue: Virtual Event (Zoom)

Join the NOA for Part 2 of their webinar, ‘Physician Associates (PAs) in Orthopaedic Services’.

Building on the success of the inaugural session, Part 2 will delve deeper into the future changes impacting the training, curriculum, and regulation of PAs in orthopaedics.

Speakers:

Jamie Saunders and Chandra Louis, President and Vice President respectively of the Faculty of Physician Associates (FPA) at the Royal College of Physicians.

…

Read more of this article

FSEM Diploma in Team care

Are you looking for a qualification that demonstrates your knowledge and clinical application knowledge in athlete and team care?

Sport and Exercise Medicine, including the skills and research coming from Team Care or Sport Medicine has a large-scale application for public health and the NHS. Team Care involves the medical care of injury and illness in sport and exercise. It requires accurate diagnoses, careful clinical examination, experience and knowledge of sport and exercise specific movement patterns.

The Diploma in Team care sets the standard for team care knowledge across sport and exercise medicine.…

Read more of this article

New Oliver Bird Funding for MSK

£6 million of research funding to improve the lives of people living with musculoskeletal conditions.

The Nuffield Foundation, in partnership with Versus Arthritis, has announced £6 million for new research funding to improve the well-being of people living with musculoskeletal conditions in the UK, with a focus outside clinical settings. Applications for the Oliver Bird Fund can consider any stage in the life course; those challenging ethnic, income, gender and other inequalities are particularly welcome, and the Foundation encourages applications from teams across all four UK nations.…

Read more of this article

No NRAS Live this month!

Due to many of the NRAS team going to the BSR conference later in the month, there is unfortunately no NRAS Live this month. However, if you have missed any of their live broadcasts – remember you can watch ALL previous NRAS Lives via their YouTube channel.

They have even made this handy playlist, which has all previous lives events in order and ready for a weekend binge!

Refer a patient to NRAS

The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) know the immense pressure faced by rheumatology healthcare teams. Let NRAS be the extra team member you need, by introducing your patients to Right Start.

NRAS works in partnership with the NHS to offer its information and support services to patients who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA). As a Health Professional, all you have to do is submit a quick form to refer your patient to NRAS and they take care of the rest!

SOMM Tutors’ References for 2024

SOMM’s tutors get together at their Annual Study Day early in the year, as well as meeting on SOMM’s individual courses. As part of their development programme, relevant references to support the musculoskeletal medicine approach are shared, to support the content of SOMM’s Foundation in Musculoskeletal Medicine module.

MSK educators and practitioners might also find them useful and can find them on the document here.

SOMM Injection CPD Day

The Injection CPD Day is still a new product for SOMM but the two days held recently in Belfast were a great success with excellent feedback. Attendees review current evidence as well as refreshing their practical skills and enhancing their clinical reasoning in MSK injection therapy.

The next CPD Day will be held in Liverpool on Saturday, 11th May 2024. For further information and booking, please visit SOMM’s website.

Co-production works well locally – let’s ensure it happens nationally

Guest blog by Rachel Power, Chief Executive, Patients Association

At the Patients Association, we’ve seen the transformative power of shared decision making and patient partnership.

Work we’ve done in partnership to empower patients with musculoskeletal conditions by giving them the tools to make informed treatment choices demonstrated how patient partnership delivers for patients and the NHS.

That project with patients, healthcare professionals, the Patient Information Forum and Nottinghamshire ICB focused on removing barriers to shared decision making. As a collective, participants reviewed patient resources – some already developed, others in development – designed to support patients’ decisions.…

Read more of this article