Author: Garreth

Postcode lotteries and transformations

by Sue Brown, ARMA CEO

February has been a month of mixed feelings for me. On the downside I continue to hear of rationing of NHS services by CCGs going against NICE guidelines. More positively I’ve been hearing about some ambitious work to transform MSK services around the country. We need some of this bold thinking if we are going to achieve ARMA’s goal of high quality, appropriate MSK services for everyone who needs them.

This month I spoke to someone in a hospital about hip and knee replacement.…

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Footwear fit for function – how do we choose the right shoes?

By Dr Helen Branthwaite, MSK Project Lead, College of Podiatry.

The rapid changes in shoe design and the increasing number of choices that occur in the footwear market might make a consumer with painful feet quiver at the thought of buying any new shoes. Yet, humans have been wearing shoes on their feet for thousands of years as protection against the environment. Problems have only been recorded in the last 600 years when shoes have been used more as a fashion statement as well as a status symbol.…

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World Young Rheumatic Diseases Day

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.

Right on Time campaign

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.…

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NRAS accessing advanced therapies

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.…

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GP contract agreement England 2020/21

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.…

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New how-to guide: non face-to-face clinics

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.…

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FSEM-NCSEM joint conference announced

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.

Paediatric rheumatology webinar

Upcoming webinar: Paediatric rheumatology: lived experience and psychological needs

Friday 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.…

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ARMA roundtable on Pain

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. …

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