health inequality

Act Now Report Parliamentary Launch Event

Last week ARMA held a Parliamentary launch for the Act Now report on MSK inequalities.

We were delighted to be joined by so many members, contributors to the report and leaders in MSK. There was a palpable energy in the room and a sense of commitment across the breadth of MSK health to tackle inequalities together.

We were privileged to have MP Tom Randall, Chair of the Axial Spondyloarthritis All Party Group in Westminster, host the event. His recognition of the report’s timeliness underscored the importance of the report’s recommendations.…

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Recent publications on health inequalities

There have been a number of publications and toolkits on health inequalities published in recent weeks. These are not MSK-specific but will include useful information, data and resources for those working in MSK.

Illustrating the relationship between poverty and NHS services is a long read from the Kings Fund.

Health inequalities in 2040
Current and projected patterns of illness by deprivation in England.
The Health Foundation lists chronic pain as one of the 4 conditions projected to increase at a faster rate in more deprived areas.…

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Act together. Act Now.

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

It is hard to overstate what a privilege it was to join so many of those who contributed to the Act Now report in Westminster last week. The report exemplifies the ARMA approach of doing things together which none of us could do alone. The energy in the room and the commitment to making a difference was amazing. I feel that MSK is demonstrating what NHS England’s Core20+5 approach looks like in practice.

Our recent FOI requests to ICBs have elicited some responses along the lines of MSK isn’t one of the Core20+5 conditions so we aren’t prioritising it.…

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Act Now!

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

On Monday of this week, two years of hard work concluded with the publication of Act Now, the report of the ARMA inquiry into MSK health inequalities and deprivation. It’s been a long time since I suggested that we could get more out of the project if we held an inquiry, rather than just writing a report based on a literature review. Despite some challenges along the way, I am so glad that we did.…

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Co-production in action – voices heard and lessons learned

Guest blog, with thanks to the panellists Claire Blamey, Gareth Gault and Shabir Aziz for their feedback.

As we prepare for publication of the report of the ARMA Inquiry into MSK and health inequalities, we look back at how the voices of those with lived experience of MSK conditions have been vital – from the initial evidence gathering to discussion of the dissemination plan.

At the inception of the inquiry process we recruited a panel of paid lived experience experts who brought their unique perspectives of different MSK conditions, backgrounds, and experience of the health system and MSK services to discussions.…

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National Voices’ Manifesto for Equitable Healthcare

In what is very likely to be an election year, National Voices have shared their Manifesto for Equitable Healthcare – which puts forth three general election priorities.

Co-produced with National Voices’ members, the manifesto is supported by a common theme – ensuring that the NHS works for all, not just those who know how to navigate the system or who come from more privileged backgrounds.

The manifesto seeks to remind politicians that adopting these priorities will not just improve things for patients but will also help drive NHS stability and wider economic benefits.…

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Societal Inequalities and Disparities in Pain Management

The latest Airing Pain Podcast, Societal Inequalities and Disparities in Pain Management, is available now.

This edition investigates the significant inequalities and disparities in treatment among primary care pain management services.
Does gender, ethnicity, disability and locality affect access and quality of pain care?

Listen now.

Taking part in this discussion:

Professor Jonathan Hill is the Director of Research for the School of Allied Health Professionals, and a Professor of Physiotherapy, in the Keele School of Medicine;
Dr Ama Kissie is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Ghent and a Clinical Psychologist;
Dr Whitney Scott is a clinical psychologist who lectures at Kings College London and is the research lead at the INPUT Pain Management Unit at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital.

…

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Information on Health Inequalities – NHSE

NHS England’s Statement on Information on Health Inequalities (duty under section 13SA of the National Health Service Act 2006) was published in November 2023.

Integrated care boards, trusts and foundation trusts should use this statement to identify key information on health inequalities and set out how they have responded to it in annual reports. The document sets out a range of indications which should be published by relevant NHS bodies in England.

The list does not include any MSK-specific measures, although elective care is included, of which MSK makes up a significant portion.…

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King’s Fund resources on health inequalities

As the conversation grows around health inequalities, we wanted to highlight three recent resources.

This King’s Fund podcast episode from 29^th November explores how the NHS waiting list for elective care can be better managed to improve health equity. A really interesting discussion of the ethics, impact on patients and healthcare professionals, policy decisions and controversies around how waiting lists are managed and prioritised.

Ruth Roberston invites Dr Mark Ratnarajah, UK Managing Director at C2-Ai, Sharon Brennan, Director of Policy and External Affairs at National Voices and Dr Polly Mitchell, Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Bioethics and Public Policy at King’s College London to share their expertise. …

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Two sides of the same coin: inequalities in healthcare

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

ARMA is in the process of writing up the report of our inquiry into the impact of deprivation on MSK health inequalities. Of course, this is not the only factor that impacts on MSK health inequalities. Age, sex, ethnicity and a range of other factors intersect to give the highly unequal picture we see. So I was delighted to be invited to speak at a Kings Fund conference on women’s health.

MSK proved to be an excellent introduction to the day with many parallels with the rest of the agenda.…

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