Physical activity, healthy eating and healthier weight toolkit

Business in the Community in association with Public Health England has published the sixth toolkit in the series “taking a whole-person approach to wellbeing“.

A lack of physical activity and poor eating habits leads to an unhealthy workforce. Around a third of adults in England are damaging their health through a lack of physical activity. In fact, one in four women and one in five men in England are defined as inactive, doing less than 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each week.…

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Musculoskeletal, falls, fractures & frailty: showcasing projects from the AHSN Network

A new guide has been published to showcase the extensive range of programmes being delivered by the AHSN Network to improve clinical services in the areas of musculoskeletal (MSK), falls, fractures and frailty, all key priorities for the NHS.

Collectively, MSK, falls, fractures and frailty have a major detrimental impact on patients, families and carers, and are a major cost to the NHS.

With a growing and ageing population, health and social care services need to be proactive in their response to this challenge.…

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PCRS Conference 2018 date announced

The Primary Care Rheumatology Society Annual Conference will take place in November.

Start Time: Thursday, 22 November 2018 – 9:00am
End Time: Saturday, 24 November 2018 – 1:00pm

Venue:
Park Inn Hotel, North Street, York, YO1 6JF

More details to follow soon.

The Pain Alliance Europe 2018 survey

Pain Alliance Europe are asking for responses to the 2018 edition of the Survey on Chronic Pain, which highlights how pain can affect the work-life of pain patients.

The charities who are members of Pain Alliance Europe (PAE) are inviting people with chronic pain or their carers to fill in this short survey on the effect of their chronic pain on their quality of life, their work situation and about any financial help they receive. The survey starts with some basic questions.…

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HMSA’s February e-news

The HMSA are busy preparing for their ‘Taking Action 2018-2022’ launch, which aims to guide strategy for the next 5 years. Part of that process is ‘The Big Conversation’ Members Consultation survey.

You can read about this and more from the February edition of HMSA’s e-news.
Learn more about:

  • livestream chats from HMSA’s resident occupational therapist;
  • the HSD Ambassador and Youth Patron preparing for the Hypermobility Management Workshop;
  • a consultation on the Call 111 campaign;
  • the helpline;
  • and an update from the CEO, Donna Wicks.


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ARMA Webinar: Focus on Musculoskeletal Health: developing and implementing a JSNA chapter

The webinar will outline the development of the JSNA chapter and why this is important for improving the musculoskeletal health of a local population. Ian Bernstein and Rutuja Kulkarni-Johnston will outline the process of developing an MSK JSNA chapter. Kevin Fenton will explore the benefits of this and how it might be used.

The London Borough of Ealing and NHS Ealing CCG published the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) chapter on Musculoskeletal Health in December 2017. The JSNA is a statutory document that describes the health and social care needs of the population, identifies gaps and unmet needs, and makes evidence-based recommendations to health and social care commissioners.…

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NHSE Consultation on conditions for which over-the-counter items should not routinely be prescribed in primary care

NHS England is consulting on proposals that will stop routine prescribing in primary care of over the counter treatments for a number of conditions, including the maintenance use of vitamin D. Receiving adequate vitamin D intake is crucial for current and future bone health and NICE Public Health Guideline 562 (PH56) states that a licensed dose of vitamin D, for prevention of vitamin D deficiency, should be widely available to at-risk groups.

The consultation recognises that vitamin D should continue to be prescribed for patients who are deficient and that it can be prescribed in combination with calcium for osteoporosis.…

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Foot Health Priority Setting Partnership survey

The University of Salford and the James Lind Alliance are leading a Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) which will ensure the perspectives of patients, carers and health care practitioners inform future research priorities for charities and funding agencies (such as NIHR). This PSP is an important step forward in understanding the current foot health research priorities across the UK, bringing patients, their carers and clinicians together to identify and prioritise unanswered questions about the effects of treatments (‘treatment uncertainties’) in specific conditions or areas of healthcare need.…

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MSK Medicine informs Choosing Wisely programme

The Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine UK will be submitting evidence and information on how Musculoskeletal Medicine and Exercise Medicine can contribute to the Choosing Wisely programme.

Choosing Wisely is a part of a global initiative, launched by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, aimed at improving conversations between patients and their doctors and nurses.

The purpose of the programme is to improve conversations between medical staff and patients to deliver enhanced care. The Academy explains; by having discussions that are informed by the doctor, but take into account what’s important to the patient too, both sides can be supported to make better decisions about care.…

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LUPUS UK publish results of their member survey

The recently published results of a LUPUS UK survey have revealed that lupus patients in the UK experience an average delay of 6.4 years between developing initial symptoms and reaching a diagnosis. In addition, the survey showed no change in this delay to diagnosis over recent decades despite efforts to improve identification and diagnosis of the disease.

The results of this survey, which was a collaboration between Manchester researchers and LUPUS UK, demonstrate that further work is needed to raise awareness of lupus amongst both healthcare professionals and patients in the UK to recognise the early symptoms and signs of the disease.…

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