CEO update – Prevention: putting MSK centre stage

Prevention seems to have been the theme of my February. The possibility that a lot of the pain and disability of MSK conditions might be prevented, and that this is being taken seriously is an exciting prospect. Even where the conditions can’t be prevented, good self-management support can make a big difference to the impact of the condition. The Government is clear that the future sustainability of the NHS depends on prevention, and that it wants to improve healthy life expectancy by at least five extra years, by 2035. With MSK conditions the largest cause of years lived with disability, this puts MSK centre stage.

There are two different debates and approaches to prevention. The first is what preventative services we can provide? There are lots of MSK examples – ESCAPE pain, Fracture Liaison Services, Strength and Balance programmes, yoga for healthy backs, weight loss support. Then there is a much broader, whole system approach to prevention. Our health is determined not just by our genetics and personal lifestyle decisions. It’s also about the environment we live in; the food we see advertised; our housing; social networks; how easy it is to walk to the shops if you need to sit down half way to rest; the support you might get from your employer to remain in work; your doctor making it easy for you to find peer support for your condition from a patient group. Public health is everyone’s business.

A physiotherapist speaking at one of the Public Health England regional meetings spoke of his experience of first encountering public health. He had been working in an “NHS Bubble”, unaware that the local authority had staff looking at prevention through a different lens, but with the same objectives. This disconnect is replicated up and down the country. I think the NHS long term plan and the prevention green paper give us an opportunity to join them up. If local government, not just public health, but also planning, housing, transport and environment, aren’t included, we will still be fighting against the wider determinants of health. I think there is a real opportunity with the new Primary Care Networks (PCN), to bring this together. At the moment, the remit of the PCNs is joining up primary, secondary and community healthcare. I think they are also in a great position to also bring in local government and address population health more widely. Smaller than an STP/ICS, they should be more able to look at local relationships and bring together all those who influence the systems that determine our health.

ARMA will be engaging with the implementation of the NHS Long term plan and the development of the Green Paper. We need both approaches for good population MSK health – services and a whole system approach. But the gains could be enormous, both for the NHS and individuals. This is everyone’s business. Let’s work together and see just how big a difference we can make.