primary care

Of course we can

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

The majority of people with an MSK condition will rarely, if ever, need secondary care for that condition. All of them will need primary and community care. This is where people access MSK rehab, self-management support and a wide variety of treatment. Yet the main focus of the NHS remains hospitals. It’s what politicians talk about, what the media covers and where the majority of the attention of local systems focuses.

The King’s Fund has just published a report, Making Care Closer to Home a Reality, outlining why this problem occurs and some possible solutions.…

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Musculoskeletal orthopaedic approach to referral optimisation

NHS England has published Musculoskeletal orthopaedic approach to referral optimisation, a guidance document developed by the Outpatient Recovery and Transformation Programme (OPRT) and BestMSK Health Collaborative.

This guidance describes the benefits of referral optimisation in adult services managing musculoskeletal conditions, focusing on the use of specialist advice to enable people to be seen by the right person, at the right time and in the right place.

It makes the case for change to sustain high quality care, manage risk and optimise capacity across primary, community and secondary care MSK services.…

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New Community MSK Framework

An improvement framework to reduce community musculoskeletal waits while delivering best outcomes and experience

10 January 2023

A new improvement framework has just been published by NHS England.

It will support integrated care systems (ICSs) to reduce commissioned community MSK waiting times while delivering best outcomes and experience for patients. It includes defining principles, recommended actions across primary, community and secondary care and further resources.

Read the official publication here.

#BestMSKHealth programme launch

NHS England has launched a new programme with the aim of sustaining the delivery of evidence-informed, personalised, high-quality integrated healthcare of value to all. This new initiative, part of the Pathways for Better Health Programme, significantly increases the resource to support MSK service delivery.

The programme covers the breadth of MSK including orthopaedics, rheumatology and pain, spanning primary secondary and community services. You can watch the launch event here.

The programme has ten workstreams, each led by a relevant clinical specialist:

Diagnostics
Orthopaedics
Rheumatology
Primary and Community MSK Provision
Spinal Services
Falls, Fragility Fractures and Osteoporosis
Data, Validation and Coding
Communications and Developing MSK Networks
Supporting those with Long Term MSK Conditions
Outpatients

There is the intention to ensure that the programme is coproduced involving the range of stakeholders including people with lived experience and patient organisations.…

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Versus Arthritis webinar: What do the new NICE guidelines on chronic pain mean for GPs?

We know that managing chronic pain can be one of the most difficult aspects of primary care consultations for both doctors and patients. The new NICE guidelines, due to be published in January, will potentially have huge implications on the traditional way of practice.

Join Versus Arthritis for a free webinar, hosted by Dr Andrew Jackson on the new guidelines.

The webinar will cover:

What is in the guidelines and what they mean for doctors and patients;
Developing new consultations skills to manage difficult interactions;
The principles of medication use;
Resources that can help.

…

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Putting musculoskeletal conditions in the NHS health check at 40?

Following initial policy direction in the Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s green paper in July, on Friday 16 August the Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock announced an evidence-based review into the NHS Health Check service. Alongside suggestions that checks are personalised in future, the review will consider ‘increasing the range of advice the checks can offer – for example, prevention of musculoskeletal problems’. This is a brilliant opportunity to make sure that people are routinely asked about the health of their muscles, bones and joints at 40 years of age, and are provided with advice to support their musculoskeletal health.…

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Prevention and primary care: opportunities we must all engage

Two things happened in July which will be significant for MSK services: the publication of the Prevention Green Paper Advancing Our Health, and the creation of over 1,200 Primary Care Networks (PCNs) across England. ARMA will be supporting members to engage with the Green Paper and to ensure PCNs deliver what is needed for MSK. We hope all our newsletter readers will get involved too.

I was pleased to see that Advancing Our Health gives plenty of profile to MSK.…

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