MSK & Arthritis News

Guest blog: Best MSK Health for London

What is the roadmap for improving musculoskeletal health in London?

Personal view from Ian Bernstein, Clinical Director for Musculoskeletal Health, NHS England and NHS Improvement, London Region.

The Best MSK Health collaborative at NHS England brings together providers and people with lived experience to “enable best MSK health for all”. [1] The programme formally launched in February 2021 as we were riding the second COVID wave; and the timing is significant.  We have known for many years that musculoskeletal problems are the largest cause of years lived with a disability in the UK.…

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Bone and Joint Week 2021 Resources

Resources for MSK

If you work for an ICS, PCN or provider organisation
MSK healthcare professionals
  • Join the NHS Futures Best MSK Health forum;
  • Make sure people with MSK know about peer support from patient groups.
…

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NOA Annual Members’ Conference

The NOA will host its first ever Annual Members’ Conference on 20 October 2021 in Birmingham. The event is free to attend for staff from NOA member organisations and will be an exciting, action packed day including two main lecture theatres as well as an exhibition and research/audit presentation room. Highlights include:

  • Orthopaedic society presidents panel discussion chaired by Mr Peter Kay
  • National Clinical Director for MSK Conditions presentation on promoting life-long musculoskeletal health within all communities
  • CEO of the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance presentation focused on the patients’ perspective
  • Shared stories from Lived Experience Ambassadors
  • Demonstrations of virtual tele-mentoring
  • Sessions around economic and social sustainability within healthcare
  • Presentation on narrowing health inequalities – a legacy from the pandemic
  • Discussions on truly autonomous robotic knee surgery and day case hip and knee surgery
  • A range of presentations from NOA member Trusts sharing best practice and lessons learned

The day will also include demonstrations of virtual tele-mentoring, discussions about truly autonomous robotic knee surgery and day case hip and knee surgery plus presentations from many NOA member Trusts.…

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International opportunities and global standards

Members of BASRaT will soon be able to work abroad thanks to the new international arrangement between ARTI Ireland, BASRaTorg, BOCATC US and CATA Canada.

The agreement will enhance skills, practices and education standards of sport rehabilitators and athletic trainers in the UK, Canada, America and Ireland due to the agreement ensuring comparable best practices, quality education and professional standards.

The international agreement for the profession of athletic training and therapy plays a key role in optimising care, injury prevention, rehabilitation and supporting the rights of patients and the public to achieve their potential to live well.…

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SMILE has launched!

NRAS is proud to announce the launch of the first programme on their new e-learning platform – SMILE-RA.

SMILE is a unique and engaging e-learning experience for people with RA, and families who want to understand more about RA, its treatments and how to support their loved one. It will also be a useful resource for health professionals, new into rheumatology, who want to learn more about this complex autoimmune disease, how it is managed and the importance of self-management for their patients.…

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Psoriatic arthritis PSP top ten launched

top-10-list-also-below

The British Psoriatic Arthritis Consortium has worked with the James Lind Alliance to run a priority setting partnership (PSP), and in August launched their ‘Top Ten’ list of research priorities for psoriatic arthritis. These have been agreed upon by patients, carers and clinicians, and the launch marks the culmination of the psoriatic arthritis PSP research.

Brit-PACT is delighted to reveal the Top Ten Psoriatic Arthritis Research Priorities, agreed upon by people who are living with psoriatic arthritis, carers and healthcare professionals.…

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Impacts of COVID-19 on deconditioning and falls

Public Health England has published a report on the wider impacts of COVID-19 on physical activity, deconditioning and falls in older adults. The study modelled the likely effect of the decrease in strength and balance activity observed during the pandemic on people who experience a fall, the number of falls and associated health and social care costs.

Key findings

Some of the key findings were:

  • 32% of older people were inactive between March to May 2020. This has increased from 27% in the corresponding period in 2019;
  • average duration of strength and balance activity decreased from 126 to 77 minutes per week, with the greatest change in the 70 to 74 age group;
  • without mitigation, modelling predicts that 110,000 more older people (an increase of 3.9%) are projected to have at least one fall per year as a result of reduced strength and balance activity during the pandemic.
…

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Working in partnership with patients to extend the benefits of pain management programmes

Guest blog by Dr Michelle Farr, Research Fellow at University of Bristol and the National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West)

People who experience long-term pain have important insights and strategies that help them manage pain in everyday life. However, they are often not invited to share their knowledge and skills to inform the services that are meant to support them. ARMA has been highlighting the importance of working in partnership with patients and how co-production, where patients and professionals work together, can improve pain services.…

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Long COVID self-management tools

Physiotherapist Katie Knapton from PhysioFit and Pete Moore from the PainToolkit have co-written a self-management guide for people suffering with Long Covid. This is free and entry-level information to try and help people on the path to recovery.

If you are noticing any worsening symptoms especially in terms of chest pain and shortness of breath it is vital that you are medically assessed. If you have been medically cleared, then it is still appropriate to have support and to monitor symptoms.…

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