Arthritis News & Musculoskeletal News from ARMA's Members

Calling all rheumatology services!

NASS has launched the search for the third round of teams to join the Aspiring to Excellence programme. The successful applicants will have the opportunity to plan and implement projects aimed at reducing diagnosis times for people with axial SpA.

Aspiring to Excellence is an award programme designed to encourage and recognise service improvement in axial SpA care. It is open to rheumatology services across the UK. The programme is run by NASS in partnership with BritSpA and the NHS Transformation Unit.…

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What do patients value in healthcare services?

NASS is working on a piece of research with Headstrong Thinking. They want to know what people value in their health services, from the time they first visit a health professional with symptoms of axial SpA, to long term management of their condition.

NASS wants to reach as many people as possible at every point of their journey. If you are treating someone with, or that you suspect might have axial SpA, please do share the Patient Values Survey with them.

JIA Awareness Week: 13 – 17 June 2022

After the success of RA Awareness Week, this year NRAS is having its first JIA Awareness week #SameJIADifferentDay, which will run from the 13^th to 17^th June 2022.

When NRAS staff speak to parents, children and adults with JIA, the same conversation comes up: how can we get people to understand that some days people living with JIA can do things like go for long walks or play football, when other days they really struggle to get out of bed or climb the stairs at work?…

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Ailsa Bosworth on the EULAR PARE Podcast

NRAS’s National Patient Champion, Ailsa Bosworth MBE, talks about SMILE-RA on the EULAR PARE podcast. SMILE-RA is a self-management e-learning programme for people with rheumatoid arthritis, a programme which was one of the winners of the Best Practice Fair at the EULAR PARE Conference.

You can listen to the episode, “Meet a PARE Best Practice Fair winner – NRAS” of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and also find the EULAR PARE Podcast on Spotify.

Diploma revision course

The revision course for the FSEM PCRMM diploma in MSK Medicine

Booking is now open for this course, which will be delivered online on the 5 March and 2 April 2022; it is aimed specifically at those preparing to sit the diploma and as such will be based around the diploma syllabus. The course will be in the format of two study days and an online Learning Hub. Diploma resources and presentations will be made accessible, where relevant, as well as presentation recordings from the study days. …

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Outcomes from AHP student placements

Innovative multi-professional student placement project shows positive outcomes

A pilot in Allied Health Professions student placements, funded by Health Education England and facilitated by the Institute of Osteopathy, has shown how an innovative interprofessional approach can deliver positive outcomes for students and educators, ultimately facilitating improved patient outcomes through the delivery of multi-disciplinary care.

New date for NOA webinar

NOA Webinar: Learning from never events and serious incidents (SUIs)

The next National Orthopaedic Alliance (NOA) webinar will take place on 25 May 2022 at 1pm via Zoom. The session will focus on learning from never events and serious incidents.

Note from editor: the representatives from the CQC are no longer able to speak at this event.

Never events and serious incidents are a cause for concern and anxiety when reported in an organisation. They require investigation and official reporting. The end result should be a process of open multidisciplinary analysis and discussion led by the Clinical Governance team that results in learning for the organisation.…

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More than Skin Deep report

A new report More than Skin Deep: The Underlying Burdens of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis has been published, setting out the challenges currently faced by people living with these chronic, interlinked conditions, and providing a number of key recommendations for improving services.

The report, aimed at policymakers, healthcare professionals and NHS commissioners, has been informed by the input of an expert working group, including leading clinicians from dermatology and rheumatology, as well as representatives from the Psoriasis Association and Versus Arthritis.…

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MSK physiotherapy service standards

CSP publishes new UK-wide Musculoskeletal physiotherapy service standards

In January 2022 a new set of Musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapy service standards were launched by the CSP. The standards focus on the delivery of physiotherapy for any services managing MSK conditions within any part of the MSK pathway in the UK. They are applicable in any setting, for adults of 16 years and over, requiring physiotherapy for a MSK condition, their families and carers, and across multidisciplinary integrated care. 

The eight standards and accompanying quality measures are intended as a tool for services to demonstrate the value of MSK physiotherapy services as part of the whole MSK pathway, with the aim to drive continuous quality improvement.  …

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AI, data and the future of orthopaedics

Guest blog by Dr Arash Angadji, Chief Executive, Orthopaedic Research UK

I was talking to a PhD student who has recently received one of our fellowship grants to research the use of statistical modelling to help better predict patient outcomes, who told me, ‘I am part of that generation that has grown up with computers, so It feels natural to ask how we can we exploit this technology. We are all getting more on board with the idea of smart technology and wearable devices and questioning why we are not applying these technologies to our patients.’…

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