Guest Blog | ARMA

Reaching new heights for the quality of care for people with musculoskeletal conditions

Guest blog by Liz Lingard, NHS RightCare Delivery Partner

Over the past 3 months I have joined the ‘Whole System MSK events’ that ARMA and NHS England have organised as the RightCare speaker. This was an opportunity to clarify the RightCare approach to everyone working across the system and how they can apply this in their local health economies. The core aim of RightCare aligns to what each of the ARMA partners aspires to achieve: ensure the right person is able to access the right care in the right place at the right time, making the best use of available resources to help deliver a sustainable NHS.

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The Fight Against Chronic Pain

Guest Blog by Neil Betteridge, co-chair, Chronic Pain Policy Coalition (CPPC)

As a former Chair of ARMA, it’s a great pleasure to be invited to write a piece for this month’s newsletter. Indeed, looking back to my seven years on the board, it is quite something to recall that the organisation entered the 21^st century still called BLAR: the British League Against Rheumatism.

Apart from the name, much has changed in the world of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases since then, most of it for the better in my view.…

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Encouraging early intervention to support good work and a healthy workforce

Guest Blog by Lesley Giles, Director, Work Foundation

I am delighted to contribute to this edition of the Newsletter in my new role as Director at the Work Foundation. I think after 6 months I can probably just about still call myself new, not least as time has flown by in a whirlwind. It’s one of those roles that really is a great privilege to do. What is there not to like? I have the opportunity to research and promote something I am passionate about – the importance of good work!…

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Whether you are an elite athlete, weekend warrior or an everyday active person the musculoskeletal care pathway for rehabilitation is the same

Guest Blog by Dr Jo Larkin, Sport and Exercise Medicine Consultant FFSEM

The knowledge and principles used to treat elite professional athletes in Sport and Exercise Medicine can be used to treat injuries occurring in the rest of the population.

The musculoskeletal (MSK) rehabilitation plan must consider the fact that the objective of the patient is to return to the same activity and environment in which the injury occurred. Functional capacity after rehabilitation should at the minimum be to at the same level, if not better, than before injury.…

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My Message to Back Pain Sufferers

Guest blog by Dr Brian Hammond D.O.D.C Ph.D. FCC (Orth) PG Cert, Chair of BackCare

There are very many back and neck pain sufferers in the UK. The cost to the Exchequer and industry is staggering. In this country, about 2.5 million people experience back pain every day of the year. Although statistics vary, treatment for back pain and disability payments as a result of back problems costs the tax payer billions of pounds a year. As a consequence, millions of working days are lost. …

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Could long-term conditions reach the point where patients are actually driving the research agenda?

by Kate Gilbert, PhD, Project Lead for PMRGCAuk’s Rheuma Research Roadshows

I’m writing this on a train on a February evening, feeling worn out but excited, a state of mind familiar to any development worker who has just launched a major project. In this case, the PMRGCAuk team have just held the first of our Research Roadshows, funded by a grant from the Wellcome Trust, focusing on Giant Cell Arteritis and Polymyalgia Rheumatica. The roadshows are going to take place at research hubs around the country. …

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Realising the Value

What is a good outcome?

We’re two years into delivery of the Five Year Forward View, the document heralded as a blueprint for bridging the gaps in finance, quality and prevention. Chapter Two of that seminal document sets out a vision for a ‘new relationship with people and communities’…

But what does that actually mean?

The Realising the Value programme has spent 18 months seeking to turn those words into a more deliverable reality. It is an important body of work delivered by Nesta, the Health Foundation, National Voices, Regional Voices, NAVCA, Volunteering Matters and others.…

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Tackling MSK conditions in the workplace requires a joined-up approach

Guest blog by Dr Justin Varney, National Lead for Adult Health and Wellbeing, Public Health England

Musculoskeletal health issues, along with mental health issues, continue to account for the majority of sickness absence in the UK. It is estimated that 9.5 million working days are lost each year due to musculoskeletal health problems and over a third of all long-term sickness absence in England.

MSK conditions can affect people at any age and at any point in their career. One in eight people of working age in the UK have a musculoskeletal issue and the prevalence of MSK conditions in the workforce is projected to increase to affect over 7 million people by 2030, a reflection of the impact of the ageing working profile.…

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We need to rethink “best treatment”

by Paul Hitchcock, Chief Executive Officer of the British Acupuncture Council

We have an ageing population. Many of that population have multiple conditions. We have already reached a situation where the provision of health and care is problematic under the current system; too many people with too many conditions with insufficient cash or workforce capacity to enable their support.

Yet the system continues to take a reductive approach to treatments and support services. Commissioners or policy makers stop services or treatments when a new innovation is proposed so that, although they can claim to be cutting edge, in reality the system provides less support to fewer people and reduces patient choice at the same time.…

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Guest Blog: How can we support people working and managing MSDs?

by Rob Yeldham, Director of Strategy, Policy & Engagement for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

Musculoskeletal disorders are the largest cause of disability in the UK. Some conditions may be caused by, or exasperated by, work. Others are not work related but impact on the ability of people to work. Only around six in ten working age people with an MSK are in work. Many people with arthritis are hiding their condition at work for fear of their employer’s reaction. So how can we support people working and managing MSDs?…

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