Category: Health Policy

Constellations, not stars

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

Last week I attended a National Voices conference about ICS and the voluntary sector. One thing that really struck a chord with me was a speaker outlining his principles for collaborative success *:

  • Mission before organisation
  • Trust, not control
  • Promote others not yourself
  • Build constellations not stars

By the time you read this, the new statutory integrated care systems will have some into existence. If they follow these principles, they could contribute a lot to improve health services.…

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Embedding personalised care within MSK-integrated services

Chloe Stewartby Dr Chloe Stewart, health psychologist and national clinical advisor in personalised care, NHS England

It’s strange how certain moments in life stay with you, etched in your memory while others disappear forever. Sometimes the things we remember are not the big things but small and seemingly insignificant moments. I remember a distinct moment during my health psychology training, some twenty years ago now, when I realised just how much more needs to be done to ensure a shift in power between healthcare professionals and patients.…

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Making support for people in pain a reality

Media coverage of MSK conditions and pain is rare. Good coverage even more uncommon. So it was great to see the BBC focus on chronic pain on 11 May. A week earlier, coverage of the NICE draft guidelines on managing arthritis generated headlines such as “Exercise instead of taking painkillers, arthritis sufferers told.” Unsurprisingly this resulted in outcry from those who rely on pain medication to manage their arthritis, especially those who really need surgery but are on unacceptably long waiting lists after the pandemic.…

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Primary and community MSK metrics

The BestMSK Health programme has collaboratively codeveloped, with stakeholders and lived experience partners, draft high-level metrics to support the measurement of primary and community MSK service delivery.

MSK professionals, analysts, leads/managers, commissioners or anyone working in the improvement of MSK services are encouraged to provide their feedback on these recommendations through a quick online survey, which is now open.

Feedback is welcomed from MSK professionals, analysts, MSK leads and managers, commissioners, MSK lived experience partners and anyone who is involved in system-wide transformation and improvement of MSK services.…

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BestMSK Health update

Best MSK logoNew resources for the BestMSK Health programme have been added to the NHS Futures site, including the Primary and Community Care toolkit and a revised high impact strategy including new recommendations on paediatrics and self-management. All the resources are aimed at anyone at any level involved in improving MSK services. The High Impact Strategy contains a lot of recommendations, but most people only need to read the core recommendations and those for their specific area of work.

NHS Futures logoThe launch webinar should be available on the site soon.…

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Equity, Diversity and Belonging (EDB) Awareness Tool

Physio First logoPhysioFirst and the CSP LGBTQIA+ network have CSP logocollaboratively run a project with stakeholders to promote EDB within the recognised Professional Networks (PN) of the CSP. The outcome of this project, which was structured as a series of three facilitated meetings attended by each participating Professional Network, is the first version of an EDB reflective awareness tool.

The aim of this awareness tool is to prompt, guide and support the Leadership Teams of all PNs to  open the conversation and to reflect on equity, diversity and belonging within their own network and how they align with the CSP’s EDB Strategy.…

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A future where no one sees community MSK services as a low priority

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

The King’s Fund has just published the results of the British Social Attitudes Survey (BSAR) questions on satisfaction with the NHS. Satisfaction has dropped by 17 percentage points since last year’s survey, with more people now being dissatisfied than satisfied with the NHS. The main reasons are waiting times (for GPs and hospital appointments), staff shortages and that the government does not spend enough money on the NHS. No one with any connection to health services will be surprised by any of this.…

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Ending the lottery for osteoporosis care

The ROS launches national campaign to end postcode lottery for osteoporosis care and treatment

The Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS) launched a national petition calling for 100% Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) coverage in both England and Wales. This is part of a broader national campaign following a report and recommendations from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Osteoporosis and Bone Health.

The APPG on Osteoporosis and Bone Health launched on 25 March 2021 to raise awareness of osteoporosis and the importance of bone health among Parliamentarians and NHS leaders.…

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Health equality: Equity and endurance

The King’s Fund recently published Equity and endurance: how can we tackle health inequalities this time? The case for tackling health inequalities is clear and overwhelming, it argues. Yet attempts to do so in recent decades have had mixed success, and none have translated into the enduring focus on addressing health inequalities that is needed.

The authors propose three fundamental realities that have to be hard-wired into the implementation of any approach to addressing health inequalities:

  • Endurance: inequality reduction needs a long-term programme that takes it beyond planning cycles, political attention spans and leadership tenure.
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