Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance
Influencing policy and care together for best lifelong musculoskeletal health
by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA
On the morning of 5 July 2024, ARMA members gathered on Zoom for initial reflections on the election result. The date had been set many months ago, and it wasn’t the ideal timing. Since then, we have had a little more time to see just what the new government would do. It is too early to say if this will be a turning point for the future of health and healthcare, but they have certainly not wasted any time.…
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Orthopaedic Research (ORUK) recently hosted the first National Bunions Think Tank, in Association with Rosetrees Trust. The Think Tank included many of the country’s leading foot health experts, including primary care physicians, podiatrists, physiotherapists, surgeons, academics and research funders, who came together to discuss ways to improve patient care and identify areas requiring further research. 
The consensus in the room was that bunions, despite affecting around 10 million people in the UK alone, is underfunded and under-recognised as a serious, debilitating condition that impacts people’s personal, social and professional lives.…
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A new e-learning resource available to all healthcare professionals working across roles and sectors in Wales entitled “Managing Persistent Pain”. It has been by launched by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW).
This package has been developed in collaboration by HEIW, primary care representatives and pharmacy colleagues together with the National Clinical Lead for Persistent Pain. The resource has been developed to encourage healthcare professionals to think more broadly about the management persistent pain rather than focusing on medication and interventions.…
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The State of Musculoskeletal Health is Versus Arthritis’ annual statistics compendium of the most up-to-date, UK-wide statistics on arthritis and other musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. This includes how many people have these conditions, who is at risk of developing these conditions, and its impact on people, the health system and society. Health inequalities relating to musculoskeletal conditions have been highlighted throughout the document.
The new 2024 version includes new topics, including new data on chronic pain in Scotland and a summary of prevalence figures for some of the main types of arthritis.…
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We Are Undefeatable has launched the report from Big Talk, a public consultation which went live last year. Read more about their report "Bridging the gap: understanding how to support people with long term health conditions to become more physically active".
The report covers:
The report outlines the actions We Are Undefeatable is already taking in response to these insights.…
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There have been a number of publications and toolkits on health inequalities published in recent weeks. These are not MSK-specific but will include useful information, data and resources for those working in MSK.
Illustrating the relationship between poverty and NHS services is a long read from the Kings Fund.
Health inequalities in 2040
Current and projected patterns of illness by deprivation in England.
The Health Foundation lists chronic pain as one of the 4 conditions projected to increase at a faster rate in more deprived areas.…
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Due to many of the NRAS team going to the BSR conference later in the month, there is unfortunately no NRAS Live this month. However, if you have missed any of their live broadcasts – remember you can watch ALL previous NRAS Lives via their YouTube channel.
The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) know the immense pressure faced by rheumatology healthcare teams. Let NRAS be the extra team member you need, by introducing your patients to Right Start.
NRAS works in partnership with the NHS to offer its information and support services to patients who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA). As a Health Professional, all you have to do is submit a quick form to refer your patient to NRAS and they take care of the rest!
SOMM’s tutors get together at their Annual Study Day early in the year, as well as meeting on SOMM’s individual courses. As part of their development programme, relevant references to support the musculoskeletal medicine approach are shared, to support the content of SOMM’s Foundation in Musculoskeletal Medicine module.
MSK educators and practitioners might also find them useful and can find them on the document here.
This week ARMA published the Act Now report of the Inquiry 
on Musculoskeletal Health Inequalities and Deprivation.
The report highlights the impact of social and economic determinants of health on those living with MSK conditions. People with MSK conditions in more deprived areas develop conditions earlier, have more complex cases, yet face far greater challenges in managing their MSK conditions and accessing quality MSK services.
Act Now aims to address the drivers of poor musculoskeletal health acting on people living in deprivation and crucially it brings a focus to the part health services across the UK can play to address inequalities.…
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