Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance
Influencing policy and care together for best lifelong musculoskeletal health
Word Day, March 18 #wordday2020
World Young Rheumatic Diseases Day is on 18 March aiming to raise the awareness and knowledge level of parents, doctors, primary practitioners, teachers, and the general public to help in early diagnoses, and a quick referral. It aims to improve the level of treatment children receive and their prognosis worldwide.
Find out more at the Word Day website.
Versus Arthritis is campaigning to ensure that everyone who needs a joint replacement gets timely access to treatment. Hundreds of thousands of joint replacement operations take place each year. More than 90% of people who have hip and knee replacements have osteoarthritis.
At the end of February, Versus Arthritis released figures revealing that, in one year alone, almost 30,000 people with arthritis in England waited more than the guaranteed 18-weeks to start treatment. This has
been featured in the Telegraph, with more coverage to follow.…
Read more of this article
Accessing Advanced Therapies (biologics, biosimilars, oral JAK inhibitors)
For some time, NRAS has been concerned that some Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) have been artificially restricting access to advanced therapies (biologics, biosimilars/JAK inhibitors) and undertook a Freedom of Information request to all CCGs about this. Following discussions with NHS England on behalf of RA patients about this practice, which was felt to be unethical, NRAS is delighted to share with you news of the attached recently published statement from the NHS Regional Medicines Optimisation Committee.…
Read more of this article
The final version of the GP Contract which sets out requirements and funding for the new Primary Care Networks was published in February. Some significant changes were made in response to consultation, including one relevant to the delivery of “additional roles” which, amongst other things, will help fund the roll out of First Contact Practitioners. The two main changes are an expansion of the roles and an increase in the funding from 70% to 100% of salary. Many of the new roles are also important for MSK health.…
Read more of this article
The NHS Long Term Plan includes commitments to remove the need for up to a third of outpatient appointments over the next five years, saving patients 30 million trips to hospital and the NHS more than £1 billion a year in new expenditure, and to continue to provide patients with a wide choice of options for quick elective care. ARMA hosted a webinar recently on this in relation to rheumatology services.
This new website from UCL Partners includes a range of resources aimed at supporting colleagues / partners in the planning and implementation of non face-to-face models of care.…
Read more of this article
Registration is now open for the second joint conference organised by the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine (FSEM) and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM). This year’s theme is ‘From Science to Services’, and the various speakers and workshops will aim to explore how cutting-edge sport, exercise and physical activity research is driving improvements in healthcare.
The conference will be held at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre in Sheffield on Thursday, 30 April 2020.
To find out more, or to book your place, visit the FSEM website.
Upcoming webinar: Paediatric rheumatology: lived experience and psychological needsFriday 27 March 12.30 – 1.30
Around 12,000 children and young people in the UK have a musculoskeletal condition. Supporting them to live the lives they want is an important part of treating their conditions. This webinar will discuss these issues using the example of Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM), a rare condition affecting just 3 in a million children in the UK.
Polly Livermore is a rheumatology nurse who has studied the psychological needs of children with JDM.…
Read more of this article
ARMA roundtable on Pain
In October 2019 ARMA held a roundtable bringing together people working on chronic pain from a range of perspectives to discuss what might be done to improve the experience of people living with chronic pain. Around 10–14% of people (6 – 8 million) experience moderate to severely disabling pain. Currently services and support for these people are difficult to access. Whilst not all chronic pain is musculoskeletal, osteoarthritis and back pain are associated with over half of all chronic pain, so that the lack of support is a key issue for us. …
Read more of this article
The Institute of Osteopathy has recently published additional reports, including the impact of Multidisciplinary management of low back pain and sciatica in primary care. This impact report provides an overview of the Plymouth Community Back Pain Service which has delivered a sustainable primary care service with measurable outcomes run by a multidisciplinary team including GPs, osteopaths, cognitive behavioural therapists and physiotherapists.
To see all recent publications, visit the iO Research and Reports page.
As detailed in their latest e-news bulletin, this February HMSA will be involved in Marfan Awareness, Raynaud’s Awareness, and at the end of the month, #HMSAaware incorporating Rare Disease Day. Sign up to the HMSA e-news bulletin for more via the www.hypermobility.org website; there’s a subscription form at the bottom of every webpage.
