I have just returned from the BSR conference where it was good to catch up with ARMA members, key stakeholders and make new connections. Watching the contributions of patient organisations to the conference I was struck again by the huge role that the voluntary sector can play in good MSK health.
So, it is good to see this feature increasingly in the BestMSK Health messaging. Phrases such as “consider referral to third sector/voluntary sector for ongoing management rehabilitation and support” appear in many of the programme’s resources. Work on the supported self-management toolkits is still ongoing and I expect this to feature strongly in the final products. There is increasing recognition that self-management of a long-term condition is largely not a medical issue.
The most recent BestMSK Health update webinar was attended by 350 people from across the MSK community, including voluntary sector, primary, secondary, community and private healthcare practitioners. It was great to see the level of engagement and enthusiasm from rheumatologists to GPs, commissioners to people with lived experience. All wanting to make a difference by implementing these ideas locally.
I’m also looking forward to meeting the new National Clinical Leads for MSK in Wales. I’m hoping that their appointment will lead to a similar focus on MSK in Wales and that ARMA and our members can collaborate in this.
I hope those working to create change locally will remember the crucial role the voluntary organisations, such as: the many local and online groups where people can get support from others facing the same challenges; NASS’s ambitious plans to drive down the delays in diagnosis of AS; excellent self-management support from many of our patient member organisations.
The draft NICE guideline on osteoarthritis, currently out for consultation, recognises the value of exercise in managing osteoarthritis. This is difficult for people in pain and many require support and encouragement to be more active. That’s not going to come from overstretched GPs or community MSK services. It’s going to come from peer support, initiatives like We are Undefeatable and activities such as parkrun or walking football which know how to be inclusive of those who find activity difficult.
Sometimes the NHS needs to commission the voluntary sector to deliver support, such as a service in Yorkshire for people with high impact pain. They told me about their impact, including people able to return to work who never thought this would be possible. They can do this precisely because they are the voluntary sector. They know their communities, they have time to listen, to understand and to support people with their whole life, not just their health issues.
We all need to work together to deliver this agenda. I think we can all agree that, with the NHS in its current crisis, something very different is what is needed. Lived experience, co-production and engaging wider than just the NHS is what will make BestMSK Health something different, not just another NHSE initiative.