getUBetter shortlisted for HSJ Partnership of the Year award

HSJ bannerAfter deliberations on a record-breaking 1456 entries and 223 projects, teams and organisations have been shortlisted for the HSJ Awards 2023. One of the finalists is getUBetter, ARMA’s associate member organisation.

getUBetter’s work with South West London Integrated Care System and South West London NHS to deliver digital self-management support to their population has been shortlisted for the Partnership of the Year award at the HSJ Awards 2023, recognising their commitment to collaborative co-design with patient at the centre.

Research opportunities with Orthopaedic Research UK

Orthopaedic Research UKOrthopaedic Research UK aims to fill the most important gaps in research funding in bone, joint and muscle well-being. They fund innovative research projects in the UK that expand knowledge, improve patient outcomes and pioneer new forms of diagnosis and treatment.

To find out more about their latest joint funding opportunities for the orthopaedic and MSK community please visit the joint partnership funds page on the oruk.org website.

Axial SpA and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

gut painIn June, in collaboration with Crohn’s & Colitis UK, and with support from the British Society for Gastroenterology (BSG), NASS launched the findings from their landscape review into diagnosing axial SpA in people living with inflammatory bowel disease.

As part of the NASS Act on axial SpA campaign, lunched in June 2021, we developed a 22-question survey in conjunction with key clinical advisors, Crohn’s & Colitis UK and BSG. There are two major themes emerging from this analysis to help ensure swift recognition, identification, and referral of suspected axial SpA: education and joint working with rheumatology.…

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Musculoskeletal health hub pilot expanding

Musculoskeletal health hub pilot expands to 100 sites as MSK cost to UK hits £5bn a year

The second phase of the UK’s MSK health hub pilot will see the service rolled out to an additional 85 swimming pools and leisure centres from February 2023.

The scheme – a collaboration between UK Active, Good Boost, Orthopaedic Research UK, Escape Pain and Arthritis Action – launched last year across 15 sites to support individuals suffering from musculoskeletal health problems. As well as a presence in physical locations, it also provides users with access to a tablet and app for customised guidance and at-home support.…

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Trailblazing MSK pilot expanding to 100 leisure centres

ukactive’s pilot to transform leisure centres, swimming pools, and gyms into musculoskeletal (MSK) health hubs has been expanded to 100 sites across the UK, as the sector grows its services for the community.

The programme behind the pilot has been designed and provided in collaboration between Good Boost, ukactive, Orthopaedic Research UK, ESCAPE-pain, and Arthritis Action – demonstrating how the fitness and leisure sector can work together to reduce the burden on the healthcare system. Read the full press release.

Community-powered MSK Health?

It’s been exciting in the last two years to be working with the BestMSK Health team at NHS England, and now also with MSK improvement work in Wales. There’s been lots of talk about co-production, self-management support, reducing inequalities and a focus on prevention. The direction is very much one that ARMA can support. Then I read A Community Powered NHS from New Local and I started to wonder if we are being brave enough, going far enough, thinking big enough.…

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Four Nation Strategy for Pain Management

The Faculty of Pain Medicine is pleased to announce the publication of a Four Nation Strategy for Pain Management.

This framework, published 30 June 2022, integrates pain management across other stakeholder sectors of health and social care, and aims to help coordinate, deliver and further develop care using resources and pathways already available. It was developed in response to the changes occurring in health care across all four nations and increasing awareness of the importance of pain management.

A range of patient and professional organisations were involved in the development of this strategy document, including ARMA, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, British Pain Society, British Psychological Society, Burning Nights, Chronic Pain Policy Coalition, Pain Concern, The Patient Voice of the British Pain Society, Physiotherapy Pain Association, Pain Nurse Network, Pelvic Pain Support Network, Royal College of Anaesthetists, and Royal Pharmaceutical Society.…

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Consortium to transform leisure facilities into MSK hubs

Good Boost introduces a UK health pilot aiming to explore how the untapped potential of leisure facilities could save millions from painful MSK conditions and billions for NHS.

  • Good Boost, ukactive, Orthopaedic Research UK, ESCAPE-pain and Arthritis Action have formed a health and fitness consortium to research transforming leisure facilities into MSK hubs
  • The project will design, develop and deploy a ‘blueprint’ that includes upskilled leisure teams, AI technology and new patient pathways that aim to improve MSK outcomes and reduce NHS waiting lists
  • UKRI provides £1.4m funding to consortium as part of Healthy Ageing Challenge
  • 20 million people in UK have MSK conditions, costing the NHS £5bn a year

A new health and fitness consortium has launched a two-year research project to investigate how to transform leisure facilities into musculoskeletal (MSK) hubs which can be accessed in every community.…

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Charity collaborative on mental health support in paediatric rheumatology

A group of JIA charities (CCAA, Juvenile Arthritis Research, JIA@NRAS, SNAC and Versus Arthritis), working collaboratively with the British Society for Rheumatology, is investigating access to mental health provision and support within paediatric rheumatology. 

In February 2022 CCAA sent out a survey to families which ran for three weeks and received just over 300 responses. The plan is to use the information gathered to help campaign for better services for children, young people and their families. CCAA is incredibly grateful to all those families who took time to respond and to share their experiences.…

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