CEO Update | ARMA

MSK and the Major Conditions Strategy

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

Everyone working in or living with MSK conditions will have been delighted to read the interim report of the Major Conditions Strategy. MSK is recognised as a “major condition”. It has its own section alongside cancer, dementia, mental health and others. The same size, the same structure, the same status. It finally puts MSK where it belongs. Or should do.

There is so much to welcome in the document. The focus on prevention and personalisation. On treatments in the community and alignment of physical and mental health.…

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Self-management and health inequalities

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

I’ve been talking a lot about self-management recently. We’ve had conflicting views through our MSK health inequalities inquiry – does it help address inequalities or exacerbate them?

It seems that it partly depends on what you mean by self-management. One of our lived experience partners said, “self-management is code for you’re on your own.” There is some suspicion amongst both people living with MSK conditions and health care professionals that this is the case, which can lead to resistance to uptake in the NHS.…

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Why ICBs must prioritise MSK (and what you can do to help)

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

My own local ICS, like many others, has the following ambition in its current strategic plan: “To eradicate the gap in healthy life expectancy between NECN ICS and the rest of the country”. The strategy contains one mention of improving access to MSK services and two local examples of work to achieve this. It’s not enough, and here’s why.

On 1 June, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) published a report on understanding the drivers of healthy life expectancy.…

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Join a chorus of local voices for MSK

Integrated Care Boards have been in place for almost a year now. Over that year, we have seen the profile and status of MSK health rising at a national level. It is difficult to tell if that profile is reflected at an ICB level. If not, then all the national profile in the world won’t make a difference to people with MSK conditions. That’s why ARMA is making local MSK services a priority with a new project, and we need you to get involved.…

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A step change in the priority for MSK

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

I’m delighted to be writing, for the second time this year, about MSK getting a high profile in Government policy. Two months ago I wrote about the Major Conditions Strategy, and now we have a budget which included funding for MSK. By including the word musculoskeletal in such a major annual economic event, the speech has underlined the vital importance of MSK health to our country and our economy.

The budget included three initiatives for MSK:

Digital resources for MSK and Mental Health – £310 million over 5 years
MSK Hubs – £20 million over 4 years
Increase employment advisers in health settings (including MSK services) – £150 million over 5 years

This is a lot of money, although given the numbers of people with MSK conditions, nowhere near as much as it sounds.…

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Making good MSK health for all a reality

I am writing this on International Women’s Day, thinking about the many different facets of inequalities in musculoskeletal health. Deprivation is one of the most significant drivers, which is why we have chosen to focus our inquiry on deprivation. However, we know there are other factors including ethnicity, age, sex and gender.

Women are disproportionately affected by MSK conditions: 35% of women compared with 28% of men experience an MSK condition, (Versus Arthritis). So I was pleased that the Women’s Health Ambassador recently organised a roundtable about the women’s health strategy for England and MSK health.…

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Major conditions strategy: parity for MSK?

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

Last month the Government announced a new major conditions strategy. In the past ARMA’s response to such an announcement would be “what about MSK? That’s a major condition contributing hugely to the burden of disease in England.” Not this time.

I will admit to being surprised to read the list of six conditions included and find musculoskeletal disorders was one of them. Pleasantly surprised. Finally, in this one document at least, MSK seems to have parity with other conditions.…

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Championing MSK in public health

Very early in my time as CEO of ARMA I met Nuzhat Ali, who led on MSK public health at what was then Public Health England. Nuzhat is a tireless champion of the importance of MSK health and its central role in public health. “There’s no health without MSK health” she told the ARMA AGM a few years ago.

Steve Brine MP, Chair of the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, was recently recently quoted as saying: “If we don’t prevent ill health in this country better than we are, then the NHS in itself is not sustainable and that is a terrifying situation.”…

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Will we be brave enough?

Ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 17 November, ARMA wrote to the Chancellor to outline the impact of the cost of living crisis on people with MSK conditions and the importance of the NHS for growth in the economy. I don’t think I was alone in fearing that the statement would see cuts in funding for the NHS and social care. Thankfully those fears were unfounded, although many feel that the funding announced was not enough.

We asked three things in the letter:

That cost of living support be targeted at those who need it most, including those with health conditions where keeping warm is important.

…

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A week to focus on health equalities

I was delighted last week to be able to join NHS England’s Health Inequalities Improvement Board to present on the importance of MSK health for equalities. I am also delighted that Bola Owolabi, Director of NHS England’s National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme, has written the guest blog for the October issue of our newsletter.

We’ve chosen to highlight equalities during Bone and Joint Week this year because it is critically important. Poor MSK health contributes to and exacerbates health inequalities. MSK is fundamental to our ability to work, socialise, move, eat a good diet – in fact, all the things that enable us to stay healthy.…

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