Category: Health Policy

Encouraging early intervention to support good work and a healthy workforce

Guest Blog by Lesley Giles, Director, Work Foundation

I am delighted to contribute to this edition of the Newsletter in my new role as Director at the Work Foundation. I think after 6 months I can probably just about still call myself new, not least as time has flown by in a whirlwind. It’s one of those roles that really is a great privilege to do. What is there not to like? I have the opportunity to research and promote something I am passionate about – the importance of good work!…

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Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View

The Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View document was published on March 31st 2017 as an update to the original Five Year Forward View published in October 2014.

Next Steps sets out the NHS’ main national service improvement priorities over the next two years, “within the constraints of what is necessary to achieve financial balance across the health service”.

This blog post sets out why MSK is so important for the delivery of the next steps and the role ARMA and our members have to play.

We need to put forward effective examples of practice when looking to influence MSK care in the UK

Putting forward models of care and examples of practice for the NHS is a large part of how Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM) is influencing the MSK landscape. The Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine’s Fresh Approach in Practice NHS information document remains useful and relevant when communicating what works and how SEM can improve outcomes and make real cost savings in MSK care.

Members and Fellows of the FSEM are now putting forward their evidence for SEM-led MSK services to help provide much needed examples.…

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CEO Update, May 2017

CEO-editorial-small After the success of our first three MSK pathway events I’m pleased that planning for the next three has begun. The North West event will be in Merseyside on May 16th and is shaping up to be every bit as inspiring as the others. Two events are being planned for the South region, with the first in Exeter in July. More details should be available in our next newsletter.

I have been reading the pledge forms completed by people at the first three events and they show the commitment of people to create change in services.…

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Musculoskeletal Services: the missing step

Last Friday, March 31st, NHS England published a significant document about the future of the NHS: Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View. The original NHS five year forward view set out why and how the NHS should change to address three issues: the health gap, the quality gap and the financial sustainability gap. The next steps updates on progress and sets out future plans.

Musculoskeletal conditions account for a major part of the workload of the NHS, 40% of which is due to potentially preventable risk factors.

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UK Gout Society Parliamentary Reception

Gout: No Laughing Matter

The UK Gout Society held a parliamentary reception at the House of Commons on 28th March 2017 to launch #shoutaboutgout – a social media campaign to raise awareness about gout, a musculoskeletal disorder which now affects one in 40 people in the UK.  Nearly 60 MPs, peers and other stakeholders in the MSK space, including many ARMA members, attended the event.

Jim Shannon, MP for Strangford (Northern Ireland) and DUP Spokesperson for Health, who sponsored the event, stated: “It’s time we put the facts on the table and told people the truth about gout.”…

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CEO Update March-April 2017

March has been a busy month for ARMA. I have enjoyed meeting so many ARMA members, finding out more about what you do and how ARMA fits with your current priorities. I really welcome the level of support you have offered me in my new role as I begin to get an understanding of the priorities of the MSK community.

The highlight of the month must be the three joint ARMA/NHS England regional events. These have been a huge success. All three events were over-subscribed, showing the high level of interest in improving musculoskeletal services locally.…

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The NHS Mandate 2017-18

The Government’s Mandate to NHS England for 2017-18 has been published. This sets out annual deliverables against the seven objectives to 2020. All of these objectives are relevant to musculoskeletal services, but one has been added which makes specific reference to MSK data. This is in relation to the Government’s goal to reduce the disability employment gap and says the NHS should:

“Work with Government to identify opportunities for regular collection of data about incidence, prevalence, clinical activity and outcomes of musculoskeletal patients and services in England.”…

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DMARDs guideline for prescriptions and monitoring

The latest guidance is out for the prescription and monitoring of non-biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). It’s aimed at primary and secondary care practitioners managing patients with rheumatic disease in the UK.

Significant updates include:

(1) Harmonisation of monitoring schedules, recommending that all DMARDs that require laboratory monitoring follow the same frequency of testing

(2) More nuanced discussion of the use of methotrexate in lung disease is provided, drawing from the two large meta-analyses recently published.

(3) Significant change is made regarding the evaluation of retinal toxicity for hydroxychloroquine users:

Lead author Dr James Galloway, Senior Clinical Lecturer at King’s College London says:
“These updates have two major focuses: firstly, streamlining monitoring schedules wherever possible, given the myriad of different regimens across drugs, and most of the schedule variations were somewhat arbitrary in their origins; second, to review and incorporate the evidence base available, acknowledging several key publications that have emerged since the first guidance.…

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World Spine Care

At a recent meeting of the World Federation of Chiropractic in Washington, founder of World Spine Care, Scott Haldeman MD, DC, reported on the latest developments.

The WSC is a collaboration of people working in MSK care, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of those suffering from spine related conditions in communities underserved by health care. Desmond Tutu and Elon Musk have put their names to WSC.

Work goes on in India, Ghana, Botswana and the Dominican Republic. Besides facilitating and funding clinicians’ work in these countries, the WSC also funds college education for future chiropractors from these countries.…

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