MSK & Arthritis News

Good musculoskeletal services – Now more than ever

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

As I write this, the news is of rising cases of Covid-19, rising hospital admissions and local lockdowns. All our readers will be concerned about what this might mean for NHS services. The prospect of going through all that again is frightening. One thing ARMA members, professional and patient organisations alike, are saying is that for good musculoskeletal health, now more than ever, MSK services matter.

We are not in the same place as we were in March and we cannot respond in the same way.…

Read more of this article

Guest blog: How to postpone becoming a bionic woman

Better communications with symptomatic hypermobility patients leads to better outcomes

By Jane Green – advocate ex Assist. Headteacher, BSc (HONS) Psych., PGCE QTS, Adv.Dip.Ed.(CD), MA Ed. (Leadership and Management), Social Care Institute for Excellence Trustee and on the co-production steering board for four years

For anyone on the long journey to diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) (previously Joint Hypermobility syndrome (JHS)) or the closely related Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD), the knowledge, practice and understanding of appropriate musculoskeletal issues from practitioners is hugely beneficial.…

Read more of this article

Power to the people: MSK Coproduction Tweet Chat

At 7pm on 21 September 2020, people living with musculoskeletal conditions and healthcare professionals and policy influencers congregated in anticipation of a tweet chat on Twitter – ‘Power to the People.’

The tweet chat encompassed co-production of a new NHS MSK strategy – patients and healthcare professionals improving care together. The discussion for that hour involved 51 people, 279 posts, 1197 engagements. The #MSKCoPro was seen over half a million times by over 100,000 users.

If you missed it, there were too many tweets to publish them all, but here are some of the themes that emerged in response to questions about:

Please feel free to continue the chat using #MSKCoPro.

…

Read more of this article

ESCAPE-pain programme wins prestigious HSJ Value Award

ESCAPE-pain has been awarded the ‘MSK Care Initiative of the Year’ at the HSJ Value Awards 2020.

The programme was awarded this prestigious award in recognition of its outstanding contribution to delivering better services and driving better outcomes across its organisation and delivery partners over the past 12 months.

The judges felt this this was an excellent initiative which enables self-management for people with hip and knee pain. Clear rationale was given for the initiative with supporting evidence and references, which has led to improvement in patient care.…

Read more of this article

Webinar: Rheumatology Nursing – Past and Present

In just over a week’s time, the Royal College of Nursing’s Rheumatology Nursing Forum will be hosting a free webinar looking at the progression of the specialism. The event takes place on the 13 October starting at 6.30pm.

The RCN Forum Chair, Julie Begum, will be joined by Sue Oliver and Diana Finney to discuss the past, present and future of rheumatology nursing before giving you the opportunity to join the discussion and ask your questions.

Please book your place via the RCN Rheumatology Nursing Webinar event page.…

Read more of this article

BOA position on suspending surgery due to COVID-19

With cases of COVID-19 currently rising across the UK, there are discussions of a second wave resulting in a spike in COVID-19 -related hospital admissions this autumn. In the first wave many of the activities of the NHS were put on hold as a precaution to preserve capacity. This was understandable in the face of a rapidly escalating and unpredictable threat. However, the BOA is keen to help ensure that in the event of a second wave the normal care of our patients is only suspended as a consequence of absolute necessity.…

Read more of this article

BOA Virtual Congress 2020

The BOA ran a member-only Virtual Congress across the two weeks of 15-25 September 2020.

Members can view recordings of the live sessions and the pre-recorded sessions on the BOA website. Take a look at the live session recordings from across the 2020 BOA Virtual Congress. Sessions include, T&O and COVID19; the good, the bad and the future, Howard Steel, Capturing Positive Change – the NHS Change Challenge, Medico Legal Implications of Covid for orthopaedics, The Future of Orthopaedic Training: Diversity and Education, Elective Orthopaedics Re-Start After COVID-19, free paper sessions and more.…

Read more of this article

Let’s Move with Leon

Versus Arthritis has launched a new free physical activity programme, Let’s Move with Leon, designed and presented by exercise expert Leon Wormley who specialises in working with people with arthritis and related conditions. The programme consists of weekly 30-minute movement sessions delivered right to a subscriber’s email inbox. Leon’s classes are a holistic, full-body programme and – they’re great fun!

Anyone can sign up to Let’s Move with Leon here.

For people who are not yet ready to commit to a weekly exercise, we also launched the Let’s Move programme.…

Read more of this article

NRAS Work survey

In July and August 2020, NRAS ran a survey asking about the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the working lives of people living with rheumatoid arthritis or another form of inflammatory arthritis.

The survey received 348 responses and a short report will be published next month. The overall picture is a concerning one: people reported that their career opportunities, in-work support and the understanding they experienced from colleagues and employers dropped slightly during lockdown. Asked about their expectations for the future, many expected this trend to get worse.…

Read more of this article