Category: Health Policy

Pharmacists can play a key role in an integrated patient care team

Guest blog by Robbie Turner, Director of England, Royal Pharmaceutical Society

With people living longer lives, the number living with multiple long-term conditions is rising, leading to billions of pounds in additional health and social care costs. This will be a scenario very familiar to the members of ARMA.

Treatment and support for the growing number of people with long term conditions such as arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions is placing significant demands on the NHS and other public services. Around £15 billion was spent on medicines in 2015/16, which are the most common solution chosen to help manage symptoms for people with long term conditions. …

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Happy 2018?

Happy New Year to all our supporters.

Although it is hard to feel that it will be happy for the NHS as winter crisis stories filled the media. Everyone in Government including the Prime Minister was forced to apologise as routine operations were postponed to help cope with the pressure of emergencies. Ministers appeared in the media to argue that the moves were part of a planned response and therefore there was no “crisis”. Listening to the coverage I took a small crumb of comfort: again and again, when giving an example of the negative impact of delays, hip and knee operations were mentioned.…

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Engagement and involvement in tough NHS decisions

National Voices has written an open letter to the Chief Executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens, expressing concern that decisions to ration treatments and services will be made behind closed doors, with people not listened to.

The Autumn Budget 2017 did not deliver the funding increases that health and social care need. In subsequent statements, a number of NHS leaders have suggested the need for tough decisions about what can be afforded by – and expected of – the NHS.…

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Update to Ealing MSK JSNA chapter

The London Borough of Ealing and NHS Ealing CCG published their update to the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) chapter on Musculoskeletal Health in December 2017. The JSNA is a statutory document that describes the health and social care needs of the population, identifies gaps and unmet needs, and makes evidence-based recommendations to health and social care commissioners.

Two versions have been published.  A visually appealing ‘Focus on’ Musculoskeletal Health chapter provides a compact, easy-to-navigate review, and is essential reading for commissioners and providers of musculoskeletal services:

http://www.ealingccg.nhs.uk/media/136195/EALING-JSNA-Focus-On-Musculoskeletal-Health-Dec17.pdf…

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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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