CEO Update | ARMA

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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2020 brings Positivity, Optimism and Teamwork

I’ve read a few things about how hard it is to get going after the festive break, or “blue Monday” part way through January, rumoured to be the most depressing day of the year. I’ve had a very different experience this year with a positive start to 2020. January has involved conversations and planning for our 2020 activities. Lots of positivity from members and stakeholders means I’m optimistic and looking forward to a successful year.

One of the things our members want to focus on is multidisciplinary working – how different MSK professionals can work better together, with each other and with patients.…

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MSK health is as important as heart health

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

Happy New Year to all our readers. The start of the new year is a time to reflect on our successes in 2019 and to look forward to what can be done in 2020.

Some of my highlights from 2019 were the annual lecture on mental health and MSK, our roundtables on pain and on mental health and our webinars. The webinars have been very popular with thousands of people watching them live or in recording.…

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MSK health – not just doctors and nurses

CEO update by Sue Brown, ARMA

The general election is now in full swing. In amongst the Brexit debate, the NHS has been getting quite a bit of attention, albeit somewhat narrow in focus. I hope that after the election, whoever is in government, this debate will widen so that we can talk about health, not just the NHS, about more than hospitals, doctors and nurses.

One other thing an election brings is restrictions on what government bodies are allowed to do.…

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MSK health: Not just for Bone and Joint Week

Bone and Joint Week is over for another year, and what a fantastic week it was, thanks to the support of our members and key stakeholders. It’s a one week blitz of MSK messaging on social media, raising awareness and prompting action. This year we had an even bigger reach than ever. But it doesn’t end there.

We need to keep raising the profile of MSK for the other 51 weeks of the year. During the week there were ARMA blogs on the NHS England and NHS Confederation websites explaining the importance of MSK health to the NHS.…

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Do one thing to prioritise MSK health

We are now very close to Bone and Joint Week, which begins on 12 October. It’s a chance to remind everyone of the fundamental importance of MSK health. Today I learned that there is some evidence that people with hip and knee arthritis who don’t receive treatment may die early due to cardiovascular conditions. It makes sense. If you are in too much pain to be active your general health will suffer. Add to this the impact of depression, isolation and loneliness, all of which also affects physical health.…

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Pain and physical activity: complex issues need collaborative solutions

CEO update by Sue Brown

One of the things I love about my job is the variety of things I get involved in. The wide scope of what is covered by musculoskeletal health and the variety of ARMA members, partners and stakeholders means no two days are ever the same. August has been a month to prepare for the exciting variety of activity we have planned including our annual lecture, a roundtable on pain, an event on physical activity and more webinars.…

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Prevention and primary care: opportunities we must all engage

Two things happened in July which will be significant for MSK services: the publication of the Prevention Green Paper Advancing Our Health, and the creation of over 1,200 Primary Care Networks (PCNs) across England. ARMA will be supporting members to engage with the Green Paper and to ensure PCNs deliver what is needed for MSK. We hope all our newsletter readers will get involved too.

I was pleased to see that Advancing Our Health gives plenty of profile to MSK.…

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Good MSK services must include rheumatology, mental health and pain

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is very much on my mind as I write this during RA Awareness Week. Yesterday I attended a roundtable discussing the NHS Long Term Plan (LTP) and RA. Rheumatology doesn’t get a specific mention in the plan, but there is plenty of content on related issues. There is mention of chronic pain, for instance, which is very relevant to ARMA and to RA. Access to integrated pain services is something ARMA members have identified as a priority following the publication of our mental health report last month, and by the time this is published I will have presented at a meeting of the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition.…

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CEO update: Patients with chronic pain deserve nothing less

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

I write this reflecting on my day yesterday, which was unexpectedly dominated by discussions on pain. Pain is, of course, something we all talk about a fair bit in the MSK health world, as it’s one of the shared factors that cuts across all MSK conditions. I’m increasingly realising it is something we don’t always deal with particularly well.

My day yesterday began with reading New Scientist on the train, including an article about UK doctors’ concerns that we will follow the US into an opioid crisis.…

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