Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance
Influencing policy and care together for best lifelong musculoskeletal health
by Andrew Bennett, National Clinical Director for Musculoskeletal Conditions NHS England and NHS Improvement
It’s been a year since I was fortunate to attend the annual ARMA lecture at the canal museum in London and enjoyed a fantastic talk by Brendan Stubbs about physical activity and mental health. New to the role of National Clinical Director for MSK, this was the first time I met Sue Brown the CEO of ARMA, as well as number of other colleagues from the MSK world.…
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The information in this briefing is based on the collated experiences of many of those shielding and information from patient helplines about the enquiries they were receiving earlier this year. For more information about the experiences of people with MSK conditions during lockdown, please see the report ‘MSK Lived Experience Themes of What Matters.’
Earlier this year, over 2 million people including some with musculoskeletal conditions, received a letter advising them to “shield” by remaining in their homes for 12 weeks.…
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The NHS Change Challenge site continues to publish the most impactful initiatives submitted. Wave two included a number of digital initiatives and wave three will be related to rheumatology services. Each idea has a short slide deck explaining the change and how it was done, the impact and issues to consider for embedding it.
The information is brief and practical, enabling you to easily use the initiatives that are helpful to you. If you want to comment you can also join the discussion.…
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The role of osteopaths as AHPs in the NHSAn independent panel of leading healthcare professionals, chaired by Professor Adrian Newland CBE, has authored a report including its findings on the role of osteopaths as Allied Health Professionals within the NHS, and their potential to provide much needed additional capacity to the delivery of NHS MSK services to improve patient care.
The report was launched at a virtual event with NHS commissioners, at which Sue Brown, CEO of ARMA, joined as part of the panel.…
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NICE published its final guideline on behaviour change: digital and mobile health interventions on its website . You can also find the supporting evidence, tools and resources as well as all the stakeholder comments. NICE has produced an equality impact assessment to support the guideline.
NICE included the recommendations from this guideline in the NICE Pathway on behaviour change: digital and mobile health interventions, which brings together everything we have said on behaviour change: digital and mobile health interventions in an interactive flowchart.
With cases of Covid-19 rising and the prospect of increased pressure on hospitals this winter as a result, it will be unacceptable for the NHS to respond to this by treating only urgent and emergency cases in musculoskeletal (MSK) services.
As organisations representing patients and professionals, we recognise that this was a necessary response in spring of this year. However, it came at significant cost to patients’ physical and mental health, and the resulting suffering will continue for many months, perhaps years, to come.…
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Landmark parliamentary debate highlights the NASS campaign for faster diagnosis time for thousands of people with axial (SpA)
On 17 September, a parliamentary debate on axial SpA (AS) was a landmark moment in the campaign to reduce diagnosis times and improve the care for thousands of people living with axial SpA (AS).
The debate was led by Tom Randall MP, who lives with axial SpA (AS) and shared with the House his personal experience of a delay to diagnosis, including being passed from one health care professional to another, before finally receiving the correct diagnosis.…
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The NHS Change Challenge used crowdsourcing to identify almost 200 initiatives introduced during lockdown which proved beneficial. The project is now working to write these up in more detail so that we can publish them back onto the site for further comments and discussion. Due to the overwhelming responses received, the focus initially is on writing up the highest-scoring ideas based on impact and feasibility within each challenge area.
The first two ideas have been published on the site. Keep checking for further ideas which will be published over the next few weeks.
Consultation deadline 14 September 2020
A new draft guideline, Chronic pain in over 16s: assessment and management, published by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is open for consultation until 14 September 2020.
The consultation recommends that people over 16 should not be offered medication to manage chronic primary pain, including opioids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, benzodiazepines, local anaesthetic/corticosteroid combinations, paracetamol, ketamine and corticosteroids.
The draft guidance recommends the non-pharmacological management of chronic primary pain, including supervised exercise programmes and psychological therapies.…
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Power to the people: Coproducing the National Musculoskeletal Strategy
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This guest blog was coproduced by :-
Mark Agathangelou, Lived Experience Group member;
Aimee Robson, Head of Personalised Care (Clinical, Workforce & Quality);
Andrew Bennett, National Clinical Director MSK conditions;
Cristina Serrao, Lived Experience Ambassador;
and Helen Lee, Experience of Care Professional Lead.
In this blog, Musculoskeletal (MSK) leads within NHS England and Improvement and people with lived experience consider why coproduction is the golden thread of achieving the highest quality care that is valued by all.…
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