Author: Garreth

Bone and Joint Week 2018

Bone and Joint Week 2018
#BoneJointWeek
12-20 October 2018

Musculoskeletal conditions: the elephant in the room?

Conditions of the bones, joints and muscles are a big problem in the UK; with over 17 million people living with a musculoskeletal condition, more people suffer with disability from musculoskeletal conditions than anything else.

Good health of bones, joints and muscles underpins living life well. Musculoskeletal conditions affect nearly everyone at some point in their life. They can cause pain, fatigue, restricted mobility and activities of daily living.

…

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HMSA September summary

As this newsletter goes out, the International Symposium on the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes will be under way in Ghent, Belgium. Philip Bull, HMSA Trustee and medical advisor will be there, and is one of the speakers on the patient day; and the HMSA medical advisor, Alan Hakim, will be there too.

Dr Philip Bull has been incredibly busy recently and over the past few weeks has trained over 300 GPs in Kent on the basics of recognising and managing hypermobility syndromes. Of course there are still 1000s of GPs we need to reach across the country, but as the saying goes ‘every little helps’ and we are really pleased that progress is being made.…

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Public Health England – Case study and report on lessons learnt

A report by Public Health England has been published in the World Health Organization’s European journal, Public Health Panorama.

“Developing partnerships and a whole-system approach for the prevention of musculoskeletal conditions in England”

Abstract: This case study reviews the experience of PHE in developing and implementing a public health approach to the prevention of and early intervention in MSK conditions. We reflect on key elements of the approach, and the essential role of galvanizing and supporting partnerships, as well as achievements and lessons learnt so far.…

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The restrictions on access to care – the impact of waiting for surgery

The BOA is nearing the end of our Centennial year and reflecting on 100 years of developments in orthopaedic surgery. While innovation in surgical techniques has dramatically improved patient care, the changing nature of healthcare delivery systems, rationing and access to care mean that many patients are still struggling with the day-to-day impact of MSK conditions.

During our Congress last week we heard powerful stories from patients on the impact of waiting for surgery. From a patient waiting for carpal tunnel release who was struggling to deal with basic daily tasks such as handling money, preparing food or getting dressed to another describing his wait for knee surgery, in huge amounts of pain with increasingly reduced mobility impacting on overall fitness and the ability to enjoy life.…

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Versus Arthritis is Working It Out at the conferences

Versus Arthritis is currently promoting their new report, “Working It Out” on the Access to Work programme at the political party conferences. At the time of writing the team have attended Liberal Democrat and Labour, and are preparing for Conservative and SNP conferences. 

The report is based on a survey of almost 1,600 people with arthritis and related conditions across the UK, which asked how their working life has been affected by their health condition, and their awareness of Access to Work and employer support.…

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Northern Musculoskeletal Collaborative Programme launch

Launch Event at Horizon Leeds, 3rd Floor, 2 Brewery Wharf, Leeds, LS10 1JR

23 October 2018, 9.30am – 4.30pm

The Northern Musculoskeletal Collaborative Programme (#MSKnorth) is a regional approach to transformation in elective MSK care.

  • Do you want to improve musculoskeletal services?
  • Do you know what the priorities and opportunities are to improve musculoskeletal care?

The programme launch will be opened by Professor Peter Kay, National Clinical Director for MSK and will feature frontline clinicians who are leading change and transforming MSK services.…

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More people, more active, more often: three perspectives on physical activity and musculoskeletal health

The ARMA annual lecture will be on 21 November on the theme of physical activity. Three speakers will discuss three different perspectives on how to get more people, more active, more often. The event will discuss the roles of statutory, voluntary, private sectors and communities in addressing this important challenge.

  • the CEO of parkrun
  • the physical activity programme manager from Public Health England
  • a musculoskeletal specialist physiotherapist.

Look out for booking details coming soon.

We need you to support ARMA in Bone and Joint Week 2018

12-20 October 2018

12-20 October is a time of important collective campaign activity for ARMA members, with Bone and Joint Week. The theme of campaign is: “Musculoskeletal conditions: The elephant in the room?”

It’s highlighting that musculoskeletal conditions of the bones, joints and muscles are a big problem in the UK; with over 17 million people living with a musculoskeletal condition, more people suffer with disability from musculoskeletal conditions than anything else.

The aim of the campaign is to encourage policy and decision makers to shift mindset and take action to champion good musculoskeletal health of the bones, joints and muscles throughout life.…

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PCR annual conference poster

The Primary Care Rheumatology Society’s annual conference is due to be held 22-24 November 2018 at the Park Inn Hotel in York.

They have put together a poster summarizing the event. Open it here.

Applications are now open and the Programme and Application Form are available via their event page.

The PCRS hope you decide to join them on the day and they look forward to hearing from you.

Call for evidence: PHE and NGC review treatment dependence, discontinuation and withdrawal

Public Health England has commissioned the National Guideline Centre (NGC) to produce an evidence review of the literature on dependence, short term discontinuation and longer term withdrawal symptom from prescribed medicines, and their prevention and treatment.

The NGC is inviting stakeholders to submit research data or reports on two key areas to inform the review:

A) Collations of patients’ experi ences of the harms caused by prescribed medicines and ability to access and engage in treatment specifically relating to dependence, short term discontinuation or longer term withdrawal symptoms from the following prescribed medicines: opioids for chronic pain (excluding end of life /palliative care/cancer pain), benzodiazepines, Z-drugs, gabapentin and pregabalin (excluding epilepsy treatment), and antidepressants.…

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