ARMA Welcomes the Neighbourhood health framework

We welcome the new Neighbourhood Health Framework because it moves neighbourhood health in the right direction.

1. It sees neighbourhood health as more than NHS reconfiguration.
2. It supports a prevention-first model.
3. It values continuity, co-ordination and multidisciplinary care.
4. It connects health to wider outcomes such as work, independence and participation.

That is close to ARMA’s vision of putting the NHS in the context of the places and communities it serves, not treating health as something created by services alone.

But it is also a missed opportunity.

1. MSK health is not named as a national priority condition. Once again it has gone missing. This is particularly surprising given MSK is one of the most common co-morbidities in people living with multiple long term conditions and often determines functional outcomes.
2. The framework does not explain how neighbourhoods will generate better MSK health.
3. Rehabilitation is under recognised. The irony is we have long said multidisciplinary MSK care is well suited to being at the vanguard of the neighbourhood health movement.
4. The public health and physical activity opportunity is not yet fully developed.

For the 20 million people living with MSK conditions, this is deeply frustrating. Their voices are still not being heard clearly enough. Their pain and loss of function are not being prioritised.

The Neighbourhood Health Framework encourages local leaders to redesign care around people’s lives. The question now is whether systems will respond to the prevalence and impact of MSK conditions in their communities.

Neighbourhood health will not fulfil its promise unless MSK health is built in from the start.