Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance
Influencing policy and care together for best lifelong musculoskeletal health
What a difference a month makes. When I last wrote an introduction to the ARMA newsletter we were in the run up to an election. I’m not sure anyone expected the result to go quite the way it did. Instead of increasing their majority the Government now has no majority at all and will have to rely on the support of other parties to get their plans through. What will this mean for people with MSK conditions?
In some ways it will be yet another distraction.
It’s been another productive month here at ARMA as I pass the three months in post milestone. With such a range of different activities there is never a dull moment. I have just attended my first ARMA Policy and Communications meeting. I enjoyed the lively discussions about joint messages on the importance of self-management and developing a co-ordinated social media plan for Bone and Joint Week in October. There is a lot of potential to support each other to have a bigger impact during the week.…
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After the success of our first three MSK pathway events I’m pleased that planning for the next three has begun. The North West event will be in Merseyside on May 16th and is shaping up to be every bit as inspiring as the others. Two events are being planned for the South region, with the first in Exeter in July. More details should be available in our next newsletter.
I have been reading the pledge forms completed by people at the first three events and they show the commitment of people to create change in services.…
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Last Friday, March 31st, NHS England published a significant document about the future of the NHS: Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View. The original NHS five year forward view set out why and how the NHS should change to address three issues: the health gap, the quality gap and the financial sustainability gap. The next steps updates on progress and sets out future plans.
Musculoskeletal conditions account for a major part of the workload of the NHS, 40% of which is due to potentially preventable risk factors.
March has been a busy month for ARMA. I have enjoyed meeting so many ARMA members, finding out more about what you do and how ARMA fits with your current priorities. I really welcome the level of support you have offered me in my new role as I begin to get an understanding of the priorities of the MSK community.
The highlight of the month must be the three joint ARMA/NHS England regional events. These have been a huge success. All three events were over-subscribed, showing the high level of interest in improving musculoskeletal services locally.…
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Two weeks into my role and I am delighted to be CEO of ARMA. I am a passionate believer in the power of alliances. Time and again I have seen the impact we can have when a sector speaks with one voice. In my last role I was vice chair of the Care and Support Alliance (CSA): 80 organisations representing older people, disabled people and carers. By working together the CSA had a big impact on the Care Act, the key piece of legislation covering social care.…
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Whether at the individual, organisational or indeed national level, when we scan the horizon in front of us and try to set out the path ahead for ourselves, it is occasionally useful also to look back at where we have come from.
ARMA began life in 1972 as the British League Against Rheumatism, and in 1996 changed its name to what it is today. With time, our membership expanded and grew to include a broad range of organisations, both professional and patient-led, including the British Orthopaedic Association, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Arthritis Research UK and the National Osteoporosis Society – in addition to long-standing members such as the British Society for Rheumatology, Arthritis Care and NRAS.…
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ARMA started July on all cylinders, with our AGM on the 4th of July and the election of four new Trustees to the ARMA Board, whose details are now on our Governance webpage. We were also delighted to have Dr. Martin McShane as our guest speaker this year. Martin, who is now Director of Medical Clinical Operations at Optum, is well-known to us from his previous role as Director for Long-Term Conditions NHS England: among other things, he gave the 2013 ARMA Annual Lecture, spoke at the 2014 MSK World Summit and also published a great blog on MSK ahead of our national seminar in January this year.…
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It’s hard to describe a month like the one we’ve just had, which has been characterised by many positive things for our community, but overshadowed by external events. Like me, many of you will feel worried and dismayed at the result of the EU referendum. There is no denying that whatever the practical implications of it – politically, for the NHS, for our respective areas of work – and whatever actually ends up happening at the end of what could well turn out to be a long and winding road, this result casts tremendous uncertainty over the UK, and Europe, in many different ways and for some time to come.…
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