Health Policy | ARMA

Prevention Green Paper ARMA response

ARMA and its members have responded to the Government’s Green Paper: Advancing our health: Prevention in the 2020s.

ARMA welcomed the high profile of musculoskeletal conditions in the green paper which is important given that it is a fundamental building block of health and important for pain-free mobility.

Action is required by all parts of the NHS and local authorities as well as community groups, businesses and employers, to create the environment that will enable good lifetime MSK health.

ARMA responded with a consensus view of MSK patient and professional organisations. …

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Guest blog: Social prescribing – connecting people with communities

by Simon Chapman, Deputy Director, Personalised Care Group, NHS England.

Twelve years ago I was working for a charity just north of Kings Cross. My office looked out on a derelict area of forgotten buildings and toxic land. Over the next 10 years, things gradually changed as the infrastructure was renewed: old buildings were renovated and new spaces and buildings were created for people and communities to visit, use and inhabit. Now, where there was wasteland, parents watch their children play in the Granary Square fountains.…

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How can we ensure general practice is fit for the future?

by Duleep Allirajah, Assistant Director of Policy and Campaigns, RCGP

As any patient who struggled to book a GP appointment will know only too well, general practice in the UK is under immense strain. Demand for appointments is rising and GPs are seeing more patients with complex needs. At the same time, practices are closing, workloads are reaching unsafe levels and burnt-out GPs are quitting the profession. That is why the Royal College of General Practitioners decided the time was right to publish Fit for the Future, our vision for the revitalisation of general practice.…

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Putting musculoskeletal conditions in the NHS health check at 40?

Following initial policy direction in the Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s green paper in July, on Friday 16 August the Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock announced an evidence-based review into the NHS Health Check service. Alongside suggestions that checks are personalised in future, the review will consider ‘increasing the range of advice the checks can offer – for example, prevention of musculoskeletal problems’. This is a brilliant opportunity to make sure that people are routinely asked about the health of their muscles, bones and joints at 40 years of age, and are provided with advice to support their musculoskeletal health.…

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Prevention in the 2020s: what it means for axial SpA

by Jill Hamilton, Professional Engagement Manager, National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society

On 22 July 2019, the government quietly published their green paper Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s. There has been a lot of commentary in the media, although it has been hugely overshadowed by activity in Westminster and the appointment of a new Prime Minister.

What is a green paper?

A green paper is a consultation document. This means that this isn’t the final version and so people both inside and outside parliament are able to comment on policies being proposed.…

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Driving forward social prescribing: A framework for Allied Health Professionals

This new resource looks at how Allied Health Professionals can be involved with social prescribing, not just AHPs who work in the NHS but also those in private practice. The framework sets out four ways AHPs can engage with social prescribing, from active signposting, to involvement in the development of social prescribing and gives examples of how different AHPs might do this.

Social prescribing improves outcomes for people by giving more choice and control over their lives. It is effective at targeting the causes of health inequalities and is particularly useful for people who need more support with their mental health, have one or more long-term conditions, are lonely or isolated, and/or have complex social needs that affect their wellbeing.…

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ARMA responds to the Government’s Prevention Green Paper

23 July 2019

The Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance, an alliance of prominent health charities, professional and research bodies, welcomed the publication of the Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s consultation document from the UK Government.

The Green Paper recognises that for the last 30 years, problems with joints, bones and muscles have been the most common cause of years lived with disability in England and the Green Paper’s proposition includes increasing the join-up across mental and physical health services. It includes ensuring businesses are equipped with the knowledge and tools they need for musculoskeletal health, convening a reference group on this.…

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Mental health and MSK: why equal health is everyone’s business

Guest blog by Andy Bell, Deputy Chief Executive, Centre for Mental Health

Having a musculoskeletal condition increases your risk of having a mental health problem, and people with a mental health condition are more likely to have a range of MSK problems. Yet the way services for both are organised and the ways professionals in each are trained offers little recognition of the overlaps between them.

Mental health and MSK conditions share some common traits and challenges. Both are complex and diverse.…

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NICE invites stakeholders for guideline on safe prescribing

NICE are inviting organisations to register as a stakeholder for the guideline: ‘Safe prescribing and withdrawal management of prescribed drugs associated with dependence and withdrawal’.

Registered stakeholders will have the opportunity to comment on the draft scope and guideline during consultation and all comments received from registered stakeholders will be considered and responded to individually. You will also be privy to an embargoed release of the guideline prior to publication in the public domain.

To register as a stakeholder, please complete the online form from the NICE website, and you can find more information about NICE’s guideline work here.

Good MSK services must include rheumatology, mental health and pain

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is very much on my mind as I write this during RA Awareness Week. Yesterday I attended a roundtable discussing the NHS Long Term Plan (LTP) and RA. Rheumatology doesn’t get a specific mention in the plan, but there is plenty of content on related issues. There is mention of chronic pain, for instance, which is very relevant to ARMA and to RA. Access to integrated pain services is something ARMA members have identified as a priority following the publication of our mental health report last month, and by the time this is published I will have presented at a meeting of the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition.…

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