Category: Health Policy

NHS extends testing of non-urgent care waiting times target changes

If you are referred for specialist non-urgent treatment, you currently should expect to be treated within a maximum waiting time of 18 weeks. Over the last year, the NHS has been reviewing this 18-week target. ARMA has been involved in the advisory group looking at this change.

The NHS England board meeting on 30 January announced plans to extend the testing period for proposed changes to the 18-week elective care measure into 2020/21.

This joint response was issued by National Voices, The Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance, Versus Arthritis, the MS Society, the Neurological Alliance and Healthwatch England.…

Read more of this article

NICE Quality Standard – Rheumatoid arthritis in over 16s

In January 2020, NICE published an update on the Quality Standard for rheumatoid arthritis in over 16s (QS33). This quality standard covers assessing, diagnosing and managing rheumatoid arthritis in over 16s. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.

NICE thanked organisations that submitted comments during the consultation period. All consultation comments were considered by the advisory committee (QSAC) and are documented in the minutes of this meeting.

Also available on the website is a summary of the consultation comments prepared by the NICE quality standards team and the full set of consultation comments.…

Read more of this article

Feedback on NICE behaviour change guideline

NICE is developing a guideline on Behaviour change: digital and mobile health interventions and ARMA has been invited to register as a stakeholder.

Behaviour change interventions have been considered in relation to the following areas:

  • eating patterns
  • physical activity
  • smoking
  • harmful drinking
  • sexual health
  • mental wellbeing

The consultation for this guideline opened on Friday 24 January. It will close at 5pm on Friday 6 March. If your organisation would like to have the opportunity to comment, you will first need to register as a stakeholder.…

Read more of this article

Third APPG for Axial Spondyloarthritis

The third meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Axial Spondyloarthritis took place on 29 January at Portcullis House in Westminster. The meeting focussed on the delay to diagnosis and included the launch of our Freedom of Information Inquiry report.

Huge thanks go to our speakers: Zoe Clark who gave an emotional account of her seven year wait for a diagnosis; Dr James Prior from Keele University who summarised the latest research into the area; Rebecca Adshead, physiotherapist at Whipp’s Cross Hospital, who gave an example of good practice, presenting on how the delay to diagnosis had been reduced locally; and finally Dr Raj Sengupta from the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases presented the draft Gold Standard to Diagnosis.…

Read more of this article

FLS-DB annual report 2020

The Fracture Liaison Service Database Annual report 2020, published in January by the Royal College of Physicians, provides the third national benchmark for the performance of FLSs at the patient level.

There were 58,979 of an expected 322,660 patients who sustained a fragility fracture in 2018 across England and Wales were reported on in the Fracture Liaison Service Database (FLS-DB). The FLS-DB used eleven key performance indicators (KPIs) for this report to measure secondary fracture prevention.

With over 300,000 fragility fractures in England and Wales detected every year in patients aged 50 years and over (NHFD, 2019), secondary fracture prevention is more important than ever.…

Read more of this article

Guest blog: A Decade of Real Change

by Clare Jacklin, Chief Executive, NRAS

I heard a good joke during the Christmas break –

Question: What do you think next year will bring?
Answer: How would I know…? I don’t have 2020 vision!

Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.”

Now, I’m not for a moment saying we’re all going insane but I wonder how many of you reading this feel (as I do) a sense of déjà vu that we’ve heard the same thing over and over but little change has occurred.…

Read more of this article

How integrated care is set to improve outcomes for those with comorbidities

Guest blog by William Pett – Senior Policy Advisor, NHS Confederation

As people grow older, health conditions often become both more complex and chronic. Evidence shows that rates of those living with multimorbidity rise significantly with age; a recent study revealed that 30% of adults aged 45 to 64 years report at least two chronic conditions, increasing to 65% of adults aged 65 to 84 years and more than 80% for those above 85 years old.

For older people living with multimorbidity, musculoskeletal conditions are common.…

Read more of this article

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.…

Read more of this article

Guest blog: The fight against fragility fractures

by Ellie Davies, Acting Project Manager, Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme (FFFAP)

The challenge:

520,000 cases of fragility fracture occur every year amongst those (primarily over-50s) suffering with the bone-weakening disease known as osteoporosis. That is 520,000 broken bones caused by as little as slipping in the shower, stepping off a curb even. This is not only a huge economic burden on the NHS, approximately £5.25 billion, but an epidemic that has lasting physical and emotional repercussions for sufferers. It is upsetting to learn that 42% of older people say that osteoporosis has made them feel more socially isolated.…

Read more of this article

NICE guideline on safe prescribing and withdrawal management

NICE guideline: Safe prescribing and withdrawal management of prescribed drugs associated with dependence and withdrawal

The final scope and equality impact assessment for this NICE guideline have now been published, along with all the stakeholder comments that were received during consultation and our responses to these comments.

NICE identified ARMA as a stakeholder for this topic and ARMA is able to comment on the draft guideline when it is available. Please contact us should you have an interest in this topic and are a member.…

Read more of this article