Category: Health Policy

NHS Change Challenge initiatives published

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.

NICE: Chronic Primary Pain draft guideline

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The draft guidance recommends the non-pharmacological management of chronic primary pain, including supervised exercise programmes and psychological therapies.…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

Power to the people: Coproducing the National Musculoskeletal Strategy

JOIN THE TWEETCHAT ‘Power to the people’ – Coproducing MSK 21 Sept 2020, 7-8pm #MSKCoPro

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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Guest blog: the Change Challenge Collaborative

by Greta McLachlan, Fellow at the Strategic planning and development cell, NHS England and Improvement, part of the Change Challenge Collaborative.

The change challenge collaborative is a group of professionals who have come together to work across the MSK, orthopaedic and rheumatology specialties to try and capture beneficial changes that have occurred within the NHS during COVID- 19. The aim being to try and capture these changes and ideas to ensure that these innovations are not lost when the NHS comes out of its pandemic measures.…

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NICE publishes new guidelines on elective surgery, planned care

A new COVID-19 rapid guideline: arranging planned care in hospitals and diagnostic services NICE guideline [NG179] has been released by NICE. The publication makes recommendations for how these services should be organised to balance the risks associated with covid-19 and the potential harms that could arise from delays in elective treatment and diagnostic procedures.

The guidance states that people having planned care involving any form of anaesthesia and sedation should follow social distancing and hand hygiene measures for 14 days prior to admission – a change from 14 days of self-isolation.…

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BOA Policy update – July 2020

report coverThe report emergent from Baroness Cumberlege and the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety review was published in early July and has been welcomed by the British Orthopaedic Association. This comprehensive review has demonstrated the impact on the physical and mental health of patients when implants fail. The review shows that there is a clear need for detailed surveillance of implants, and we welcome the recommendation for the establishment of more National Implant Registries.

Read the BOA’s full position on this issue.…

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New guidance on corticosteroids

The guidance ‘Management of Patients with Musculoskeletal and Rheumatic Conditions on Corticosteroids’ has now been superseded by the following guidance, issued on 16 June 2020. It applies to:

Management of patients with musculoskeletal and rheumatic conditions who:

  • – are on corticosteroids
  • – require initiation of oral/IV corticosteroids
  • – require a corticosteroid injection

The new guidance can be read here [open PDF].

SOMM’s Injection Module Coordinator, Paul Hattam, has submitted his view on the guidance for corticosteroid injection that has been provided throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as an open letter to the CSP’s ‘Frontline’ magazine.…

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The changing landscape of orthopaedic services in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

Guest blog by

Cormac Kelly, Consultant Upper Limb Surgeon at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

and

Peter Kay, National Orthopaedic Alliance (NOA) Lead Clinician and Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The COVID-19 crisis has changed the delivery of planned orthopaedic surgery drastically. As the pandemic continues to subside, the NHS, with various guidance from Public Health England, Medical and Surgical Colleges, the British Orthopaedic Association, and others, is working on a plan to get surgery back on track.…

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