- › Do you think that musculoskeletal services in your area could be improved?
- › Could your local NHS give more priority to MSK?
- › Do you want to find out how you can encourage and support change?
Then this page is for you.
The impact of musculoskeletal ill-health on individuals, NHS and the economy is increasingly being recognised. Our MSK health is what enables us to move, work, and live a full, active and healthy life. As the largest cause of years lived with disability and one of the biggest reasons for sickness absence from work, it is hard to overstate the importance of promoting the MSK health of the population. The Major Conditions Strategy announced in February 2023 recognised this, including MSK as one of the six conditions covered.
In 2021, NHS England launched the Best MSK Health Collaborative. Over a period of 18 months this produced a wealth of resources for improving MSK services across primary, community and secondary care. Similar work continues in Wales. Implementing this good practice is the responsibility of local NHS systems.
ARMA wants everyone to have access to excellent MSK services, regardless of where they live. The resources on this page are for anyone who wants to contribute to this mission.
Key messages on Musculoskeletal Service Improvement
This sets out the key messages agreed by our members about what a good MSK service should look like. We encourage anyone discussing local improvement to use this as a checklist of questions to be addressed.
Local services project (England)
ARMA wants to ensure that MSK service improvement is being given a high enough priority by every Integrated Care Board in England. This project aims to find out what is happening and how individuals and groups can help raise the profile of MSK where this is needed.
Musculoskeletal core offer for Local NHS plans
In 2019 ARMA developed a core offer to help those developing local services to understand what is needed to deliver evidence based, cost effective services for good MSK population health, and to signpost towards information and support available to help those looking to improve services. The core offer sets out what is required in five areas: Underpinning framework; Services; Prevention; Mental Health; Personalisation. ARMA has also developed a maturity matrix to assist in assessing how well-developed local services are and help identify priorities for improvement.