Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance
Influencing policy and care together for best lifelong musculoskeletal health
by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA
On the morning of 5 July 2024, ARMA members gathered on Zoom for initial reflections on the election result. The date had been set many months ago, and it wasn’t the ideal timing. Since then, we have had a little more time to see just what the new government would do. It is too early to say if this will be a turning point for the future of health and healthcare, but they have certainly not wasted any time.…
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ARMA is delighted to welcome our newest Trustee Noha Al Afifi, interim CEO of Arthritis Action. We look forward to working closely with Noha and know the wealth of experience she brings to ARMA will be an asset to the organisation.
Speaking about her election Noha stated: “I am proud and pleased to be joining the Arthritis & Musculoskeletal Alliance Board and look forward to working with them as a Trustee, raising the awareness of the impact MSK conditions have on all members of society and how we can tackle health inequalities.”
NHS funding now available for First Contact Practitioner Osteopaths
NHS funding is now available for employing osteopaths in primary care roles such as First Contact Practitioners (FCP). This follows significant lobbying by the Institute of Osteopathy and is part of the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service (DES) for the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) 2024-2025 contract.
ARMA has joined a range of charities adding their support to Forgotten Lives UK, a patient-led group advocating for better protection of those who are immunocompromised.
Approximately 1.8m people in the UK have conditions that render them more vulnerable to COVID-19, due to being immunocompromised. Forgotten Lives UK advocates for their ongoing protection through prophylaxis drugs and other preventative measures, both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical.
You can read more about the campaign work of Forgotten Lives UK here: Forgotten Lives UK – Protecting the Immunocompromised
Orthopaedic Research (ORUK) recently hosted the first National Bunions Think Tank, in Association with Rosetrees Trust. The Think Tank included many of the country’s leading foot health experts, including primary care physicians, podiatrists, physiotherapists, surgeons, academics and research funders, who came together to discuss ways to improve patient care and identify areas requiring further research. 
The consensus in the room was that bunions, despite affecting around 10 million people in the UK alone, is underfunded and under-recognised as a serious, debilitating condition that impacts people’s personal, social and professional lives.…
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On 22nd June 2024, The Psoriasis Association were delighted to host the ‘Psoriasis Update: What you need to know’ conference in Manchester. The day was highly successful and received positive feedback from attendees.
The morning session included talks from Dr Helen Young, Dr Zenas Yiu and research students Binh Phan and Heber Bright. Topics such as the impact of exercise on psoriasis and biologic treatments were discussed.
A fireside chat on Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) was held by Russ Cowper, Psoriasis Association Trustee.…
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Year of Care Partnerships® is promoting a series of free webinars this summer in which they will share learning across a range of topics including proactive care and shared decision making.
The series began on July 17 with a webinar about the systematic implementation of personalised care approaches for planned care, including examples of good practice and lessons for successful implementation.
Using the Year of Care approach to personalised care and support planning to deliver proactive care
Wednesday 14 August 1-2pm
This webinar will share learning and recommendations from the North East North Cumbria ICS proactive care pilot in primary care networks.…
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A new e-learning resource available to all healthcare professionals working across roles and sectors in Wales entitled “Managing Persistent Pain”. It has been by launched by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW).
This package has been developed in collaboration by HEIW, primary care representatives and pharmacy colleagues together with the National Clinical Lead for Persistent Pain. The resource has been developed to encourage healthcare professionals to think more broadly about the management persistent pain rather than focusing on medication and interventions.…
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by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA
In the last few weeks we have had two new organisations join ARMA – welcome to Lupus UK and National Spine Network. As I write this, I have just received another inquiry about membership so that may soon be three new members.
This is a good time for ARMA’s membership to be growing. I’m writing in the run up to the general election. The airwaves are filled with parties bidding for your vote, making wild claims and undeliverable promises.…
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by Noha Al-Afifi, Interim CEO, Arthritis Action
There’s no doubt from the ARMA Act Now report that the current tough economic environment is exacerbating inequalities in healthcare provision and access. With the scale of the task, it could be easy to get overwhelmed by the challenge. As important is that the report urges all to recognise the wider context and environment in which healthcare sits and to encourage small scale, localised action plans.
Helping both our members and the wider public to take control of their arthritis has inevitably led us to provide resources beyond health advice.…
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