Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance
Influencing policy and care together for best lifelong musculoskeletal health
The Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine (UK) has published a statement on the role SEM consultants can play in new NHS long Covid rehabilitation clinics being set up in England.
Read the statement here.
Recently, FSEM (UK) and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine presented an inspiration seminar by Sir Muir Gray on the importance of physical activity.
You can watch the webinar on demand here.
The National Orthopaedic Alliance (NOA) is moving forward with plans to create an Orthopaedic Quality Improvement (inc. Clinical Audit) Network. The new network will enable specialist orthopaedic centres to be connected as a primary source of support and expertise in all aspects of quality improvement and clinical audit for orthopaedics. It is being led and coordinated by the NOA as part of its remit to bring together orthopaedic centres around the UK to share best practice and address shared challenges.
Mr Cormac Kelly, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at National Orthopaedic Alliance (NOA) founder member organisation, The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, has joined the NOA as Webinar Programme Lead. Since April 2020, Mr Kelly has played an instrumental role in the delivery of NOA’s COVID-19 webinar series, which continues to provide topical virtual sessions to support NOA members and those across the wider orthopaedic network.
The Centre for Ageing Better and The Physiological Society have produced a report: A National COVID-19 Resilience Programme.
The report says that home confinement in older people may cause: (i) cardio respiratory and metabolic deconditioning, (ii) insulin resistance, (iii) muscle loss and (iv) increased fat mass. In addition, social isolation may be worsened.
The report makes recommendations including a tailored exercise programme and broad interventions to support increased activity levels; optimising nutrition and embedding behaviour change.
Read the report here [opens in PDF]
by Andrew Bennett, National Clinical Director for Musculoskeletal Conditions NHS England and NHS Improvement
It’s been a year since I was fortunate to attend the annual ARMA lecture at the canal museum in London and enjoyed a fantastic talk by Brendan Stubbs about physical activity and mental health. New to the role of National Clinical Director for MSK, this was the first time I met Sue Brown the CEO of ARMA, as well as number of other colleagues from the MSK world.…
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The First Contact Practitioner Osteopath pilot, funded by the Osteopathic Foundation, has published its results with excellent implications for the future of osteopaths in the FCP role.
The report indicates results that demonstrate osteopaths have the skills to make a positive impact in these roles.
Another recent report by the Institute of Osteopathy is Tackling the workforce challenges in MSK care which explores the role of osteopaths as Allied Health Professionals within the NHS.…
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The information in this briefing is based on the collated experiences of many of those shielding and information from patient helplines about the enquiries they were receiving earlier this year. For more information about the experiences of people with MSK conditions during lockdown, please see the report ‘MSK Lived Experience Themes of What Matters.’
Earlier this year, over 2 million people including some with musculoskeletal conditions, received a letter advising them to “shield” by remaining in their homes for 12 weeks.…
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NRAS has a new video on the benefits of the Right Start Service for patients newly or recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.New2RA Right Start is a service launched by the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) at the BSR 2019 congress and to which many rheumatology services are referring their patients. Right Start supports people newly diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis to understand their diagnosis and how it is likely to affect them. Getting the right, supportive start can help people to make adjustments to their behaviour, lifestyle and health beliefs and understand why self-management is essential, and learn how to make those important first steps to managing their disease effectively.…
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by Andrew Coutts. BSc Hons, MSc, FCPodS, Specialist Registrar in Podiatric Surgery, Derbyshire Community Health Service NHS Foundation Trust
One of the most common questions I get asked by patients, colleagues and friends is – ‘how do I get rid of my heel pain?’ I see many patients with plantar fasciitis symptoms, insertional Achilles tendonosis and other causes of heel pain, such as retrocalcaneal bursitis, tarsal tunnel syndrome, fat pad atrophy and Sever’s Disease, however every year I see an increase in referrals specifically around February, March and April time [1].…
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BOA statement on preserving elective operating wherever possible in second wave (15 Oct 2020).
BOA statement about orthopaedic ring-fenced beds (released 19 Oct 2020).
BOA Annual Congress 2021 – Save the Date!
Taking place 21-24 September 2021, the BOA Annual Congress programme will be created around the theme of ‘Tackling Infection’, with four days of lectures including three days of exhibition being held for the first time at P&J Live, The Event Complex Aberdeen (TECA). Further information regarding abstracts, programme, speakers, location and more will be on the BOA website in the upcoming months.…
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