Category: Health Policy

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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Work Matters – NRAS

NRAS will be launching its work report, Work Matters, in Parliament on 11th October. We are delighted that the Minister for Disabled People, Work and Health, Penny Mordaunt MP, will be joining us at the event. You can follow the proceedings live on twitter by following @NRAS_UK. The report will then be available to order or download from the NRAS website.

Upcoming NRAS events

The Cambridgeshire RA information evening will take place on 19th October from 7pm to 8.30pm (refreshments from 6.45pm) with the support of the rheumatology team at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust. …

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Get a grip on PIP

As an active member of the Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC), the Arthritis Research UK policy, campaigns and public affairs teams have worked closely with the Chairs of the coalition on the DBC’s new report. The report demonstrating the huge problems which many people experience when trying to access Personal Independence Payments, and includes statistics from the DBC Big Benefits Survey – with over 1500 responses specifically from people with musculoskeletal conditions- and an in depth case study provided by Arthritis Research UK about Debs, who had her PIP reduced and lost her Motability care as a result.…

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Rehab Matters – Raising the profile of community rehabilitation

Guest blog by Catherine Pope, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Chair.

Jane left hospital after a stroke and was seen promptly at home by a physiotherapist, who worked with other members of the multidisciplinary team to develop a plan for her recovery.

Members of that team visited regularly, and Jane made strong progress – supported by her husband, Robert – towards achieving her goal of getting back out into her garden and getting her green fingers dirty.

Meanwhile, another Jane, in another part of the country – perhaps even the neighbouring town – realised no such goal.…

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EDS UK launches free membership and toolkit for GPs

The Ehlers-Danlos Support UK (EDS UK) has launched free membership alongside a brand new website and logo. This is a major change for the charity in its 30th year and is intended to attract new supporters.

The website is kept up to date with news and the latest information on the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes as well as vital support. Have a look here: www.ehlers-danlos.org.

 

The charity is also proud to be working in partnership with the Royal College of GPs this year to create an EDS toolkit for GPs.…

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A Guide to Rheumatology: Parliamentary briefing

In late September, BSR are releasing ‘A Guide to Rheumatology: Parliamentary briefing,’ which seeks to address the challenges and opportunities faced by the rheumatology multidisciplinary team and identify ways to improve the treatment and care received by individuals with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. It highlights the significant difficulties experienced by rheumatology services and the patients they serve: 

  • Waiting times: 38% of patients in England with suspected rheumatoid arthritis were assessed within three weeks of referral.
  • Diagnostic delay: Only 18% of patients in England were referred to rheumatology within the NICE recommended three days of presentation to their GP.
…

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