ARMA Annual Lecture 2022

We are delighted to announce that the annual ARMA lecture will be held on the evening of 11 October 2022, 7-8pm, on the eve of Bone and Joint Week.

Delivering equitable MSK healthcare: from prevention to highly specialised care

The prevalence and impact of musculoskeletal conditions are not experienced equally across the population. Musculoskeletal conditions are linked to deprivation, age, are more prevalent in women, and disproportionately affect some minority ethnic groups. The profile of health inequalities is currently high, including the focus in the NHS on the Core 20+ approach.…

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RA Awareness Week – #RAFactOrFiction Quiz

RA Awareness Week took place on 12-17 September, and the theme this year was to dispel the myths that surround living with Rheumatoid Arthritis, with a brand new #RAFactOrFiction quiz.

NRAS needs your help to spread awareness of the condition, and you can do this by sharing the #RAFactOrFiction quiz with your friends and family, to help people understand more about the condition and the impact it has on people’s lives.

We know that those of you in the RA community are only too aware of the misconceptions that other people can have around inflammatory arthritis, so this quiz has been designed to educate the general public about the condition.…

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Sharing pain podcast episode

Pain Concern would like to announce their new podcast episode, Sharing pain – how group consultations can help with long COVID and other conditions.

Episode description: Airing Pain producer, Paul Evans, spoke to doctors and patients at Berkshire Pain Clinic and Woodley Centre Surgery about managing the symptoms of Long COVID, the importance of group consultations and the similarities between Long COVID and other chronic conditions. The episode also explores the multi-disciplinary approach at the clinic, and includes interviews with a range of medical staff on how they help people to manage their symptoms.…

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NHFD 2022 annual report

The National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD) 2022 annual report has been published and encompasses the whole of 2020 and 2021, to demonstrate how care compares with that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on the detailed analysis of the six key performance indicators (KPIs) in the previous report, it seeks to look forward with innovations including new KPIs designed to examine the very first and final stages of each patient’s care pathway.

$Hip fracture report cover$ This year the report focuses on how hospitals can best make use of the data to improve care through quality improvement, including how to identify areas of improvement using the new quarterly governance tool.…

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Fibromyalgia healthcare research

A new research study aims to better understand how people with Fibromyalgia experience healthcare. In particular the impact of having the diagnosis and any experience of stigma within the health services.

The study is open to anyone over 18 with Fibromyalgia and is being carried out by the University of Sheffield alongside the University Medical Centre Groningen (NL) and Pain Alliance Europe. For full details on how to participate please see the project website.

NASS seeks partner to co-design integrated pilot

NASS invites expressions of interest to co-design and test an Integrated Pilot as part of the implementation of our Gold Standard Time to Diagnosis for axial SpA.

Do you want to be at the forefront of ending the delay to diagnosis in axial SpA?

In June 2021, the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS) published a route map to achieve a Gold Standard Time to Diagnosis of one year through the Act on Axial SpA campaign. The route map proposes four key interventions for achieving this goal.…

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Rheumatoid Arthritis Mela event for the South Asian community

Join NRAS on 13 October 2022, 9:30am-4:00pm, at Leicester Racecourse for the Rheumatoid Arthritis Mela event for the South Asian community.

The event is open to anyone who has rheumatoid arthritis, as well as their family members, friends or carers. You’ll have an opportunity to talk to others with the condition, hear from our guest speakers and health professionals in attendance. Free lunch will be provided also.

For more information visit the event page on the NRAS website.

NRAS CEO on the Health Without Borders podcast

Clare Jacklin, National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society CEO, made an appearance on the Health Without Borders podcast this week speaking about RA to an international audience, predominantly in the US.

In this episode, Clare touched on how the US is working to increase access to the new Evusheld scheme, how NRAS has grown to become the nation’s leading patient-led organisation focusing on RA, and much more.

Listen to the podcast here.

Decision support tools published

Shared decision making tools NHS England has published a suite of eight decision support tools covering varying conditions along with guidance on how to use them and evaluating the impact.

Four of these relate to MSK conditions:

Decision support tools (DSTs), also called patient decision aids, support shared decision making (SDM) by making treatment, care and support options explicit, providing evidence-based information about the associated benefits and risks, and helping people to consider what matters most to them in relation to the possible outcomes, including doing nothing.…

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Women’s health strategy published

Policy Paper

Women’s Health Strategy for England

Updated 21 July 2022

Although women in the UK on average live longer than men, women spend a significantly greater proportion of their lives in ill health and disability when compared with men. The Women’s Health Strategy for England aims to tackle this.

The strategy sets out a six-point plan to boost health outcomes for all women and girls and radically improve the way in which the health and care system engages and listens to all women and girls.…

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