MSK Strategy Campaign

Dear Secretary of State,

We support the Government’s development of a ten year pan for the NHS and the three shifts will move things in the right direction. However, the plan will provide an overall framework for all conditions. We call on the Government to also develop a strategy for musculoskeletal services to set out how the plan will be implemented in relation to MSK conditions.

Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions represent the largest cause of years lived with disability in the UK, and one of the two biggest reasons for sickness absence. Far from being a touch of arthritis, just a bit of pain and inevitable as we age, MSK conditions are complex and sometimes life long conditions having a significant impact on the lives of millions. The failure to adequately diagnose, treat and support people with MSK conditions results in a significant burden to the economy, employers, the NHS, individuals and their families.

We call on the Government to set out expectations for the NHS to address:

• The significant delays in diagnosis of many MSK conditions resulting in delays accessing treatment with long term implications for health.
• The delays in access to appropriate treatment and support, including the failure to provide community services and self-management support at an early stage which can result in people needing more invasive treatment and/or more pain medication.
• The failure to provide joined up services between primary care, community services and hospital treatment and between children and adult services.

In our view, local health systems consistently under prioritise MSK services, leading to a lack of strategic approach. We welcome initiatives such as the Community MSK programme. However, the focus on MSK needs to be embedded in the way local health systems work, joined up strategically and delivered across the whole of England. We believe that a national MSK strategy is the only way to achieve this.

Signed by:

Dr Dale Webb, CEO, National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society

Dr Arash Angadji, Chief Executive, Orthopaedic Research UK

Neil Langridge, Chair, Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists

Shantel Irwin, CEO, Arthritis Action

Caroline Olshewsky, CEO, Lupus UK

Mark Gurden, President, The Royal College of Chiropractors

Peter Foxton, CEO, National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society

Deborah Alsina MBE, Chief Executive, Versus Arthritis

Natalie Beswetherick, Chairman, Gloucestershire Arthritis Trust

Heather Wallace, Chief Executive, Pain Concern

Steve Aspinall, Chief Executive, British Association of Sport Rehabilitators

Cait Allen, CEO, British Chiropractic Association

Helen McAteer, Chief Executive, Psoriasis Association

Dr Chris Ellis and Dr Louise Warburton, Co-Presidents, Primary Care Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Medicine Society

Jim Greenwood, Chair, National Spinal Network