Category: Health Policy

Transforming Elective Care Handbooks

The NHS England Transforming Elective Care programme has produced its first two handbooks. They suggest new referral and outpatient processes for elective musculoskeletal/orthopaedic services and elective gastroenterology services.

They draw on practical interventions developed and tested at various sites that took part in the programme’s early work. Each handbook is intended to provide practical, evidence-based advice on tested interventions to ensure people access care that is:

  • high quality
  • timely
  • appropriate
  • person-centred
  • equitable

The MSK handbook includes information on

  • MSK clinical review and triage
  • Standard referral templates
  • First contact practitioner
  • MSK self-management education
  • Patient passport
  • Telephone follow up

Musculoskeletal Conditions, Disability and Employment: ARMA Annual Lecture

ARMA is delighted to announce that Dame Carol Black will present the ARMA annual lecture on 29th January 2018.

Musculoskeletal conditions cause physical and mental distress and disability. They often distance sufferers from the labour market with associated financial consequences; they narrow social interactions; and they reduce individual wellbeing. This should not be so. Carol Black, having worked for more than ten years in this area, first as National Director for Health and Work and then as adviser to DH, PHE and NHSE, will review progress to date by government, health professionals and employers.…

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CEO update – Spreading good practice

One thing we seem very good at in the MSK world is identifying examples of good practice. The NHSE/ARMA regional events have showcased a raft of excellent initiatives which make better use of NHS resources whilst also improving patient care. What is often harder to achieve is spreading that good practice.

Last week I attended a conference on delivering sustainable healthcare, which focused on why this is so difficult and what we can do to improve it. All very relevant to MSK improvement.…

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DWP Community partners programme

The Department for Work and Pensions is looking to second people with a professional or lived experience of musculoskeletal conditions to work on an exciting, new project. The Community Partners Programme is a new initiative working with Jobcentre colleagues to enhance our service to customers with disabilities and health conditions.

We are looking to second a colleague from a local organisation to be a Musculoskeletal Community Partner to work across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. We are looking to arrange secondments with organisations who would like their colleagues to gain valuable experience in a government department, and to share their specialist skills and knowledge to enhance the supported to Jobcentre colleagues with disabilities and health conditions.…

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New report from industry Medical Technology Group finds hip replacements will save the UK economy £700m

A not-for-profit organisation comprising patient groups, research charities and medical device manufacturers– the Medical Technology Group – released a report on 29 November 2017 called ‘Keeping Britain Working: How medical technology can help reduce the cost of ill health to the UK economy’

www.mtg.org.uk/major-studies.

This report updated the 2011 report by the Work Foundation into the value of Medical Technology to society and identified how better use of medical technology can help the Government save up to £476m in welfare spending through improved use of medical technology.…

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Guest blog: Improving quality in orthopaedic care

by Mark Brandreth, NOA Lead CEO and
CEO of the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

As the new lead CEO for the National Orthopaedic Alliance (NOA), I am proud to be part of a group of organisations and people who are working to drive improvements in orthopaedic care nationwide. I’m pleased to have been given the opportunity to contribute a guest blog to ARMA’s newsletter to share an update on our work with you. At Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH), our work with the NOA, and its vanguard work in particular, is vital to our future – and to the future of orthopaedic care received by patients across the country.…

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Lessons from traditional Chinese acupuncture – Adding value to life

Guest Blog by Paul Hitchcock, Chief Executive, The British Acupuncture Council

I recently spoke at an NHS England event for International Day for Older People, my talk being titled “Lessons from traditional Chinese acupuncture – adding value to life”. We know we have a demographic challenge here in the UK and we talk about an ageing population that will see an increase of around one million people over the age of sixty five in the next three years. In China the number is closer to three hundred million, although the approach there is not to use age as the differentiator but the person’s overall health and wellbeing – an approach that is also now starting to be applied here in the UK.…

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NICE Persistent Pain Guidelines committee

NICE is looking for members to join the persistent pain guideline committee.

They are looking for:

  • two general practitioners
  • a pain specialist
  • a physician with interest in pain
  • a liaison psychiatrist
  • a pharmacist
  • an allied health professional
  • a commissioner
  • a pain psychologist
  • a nurse specialist or practitioner
  • a public health professional.

They are also looking for co-opted expert witnesses with the following background or experience:

  • an addiction specialist
  • a social worker.

Find full details here on the NICE website.
NICE are also recruiting for lay members to join the committee: www.nice.org.uk/lay-member-persistent-pain-guideline-committee…

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Work Matters launched

On Wednesday 11th October, NRAS launched its new report, Work Matters, following a survey of over 1,500 people with rheumatoid arthritis.

The launch took place in Parliament and was attended by the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work- Penny Mordaunt MP, who spoke about the importance of work as a health outcome. The findings from this report will form much of NRAS’ campaigning going forward.

You can read the report here and can also order a hardcopy from this link.…

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South East Regional Musculoskeletal (MSK) one-day conference

NHS England and the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA) are delighted to be hosting a South East Regional Musculoskeletal (MSK) one-day conference on Tuesday 28 November 2017 at the Arora Hotel, Crawley. The event is sponsored by NHS England and ARMA and is part of their joint MSK programme and will be organised by the Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network.

Register now! using this link: www.eventbrite.co.uk/the-whole-system-msk-event.

The South East System MSK event will promote a coherent approach to transforming MSK services across the region by working directly with South East Sustainability Transformation Plans (STPs) footprints to support improvement in the quality of MSK care.…

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