Millions Of People With Musculoskeletal Conditions At Risk Of Being Let Down By NHS

Main Category: Arthritis / Rheumatology
Article Date: 10 Jul 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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One-in-five (21%) primary care trusts (PCTs) do not offer 'clinical assessment and treatment services' (CATS) for people with musculoskeletal conditions, denying them services deemed a 'keystone' of the government's 2006 musculoskeletal services strategy1. A report based on Freedom of Information requests and published by the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA) also reveals that just under half (45%) of PCTs do not define life-long conditions such as arthritis as 'long-term', meaning people with musculoskeletal conditions are being ignored in large areas of the country1.

"The millions of people with musculoskeletal conditions in the UK have long been forced to endure low standards of care from the NHS," said report lead Professor David Marsh, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Royal National Orthopaedics Hospital. "The government has long recognised that the situation must improve and its 2006 strategy should have been the starting point of the process, but people in many areas are still receiving patchy and poor care."

The report - supported by an initial grant from the British Society of Rheumatology as well as Roche Products Ltd and DePuy UK - also confirms the huge variation in spending on people with musculoskeletal conditions, ranging from under £100 per head in Lewisham PCT to almost £1,400 per head in Western Cheshire PCT1. To address these variations the report calls for the appointment of a 'tsar', to oversee improvements for people at a national level, and lead on revamping the Department of Health's own musculoskeletal reform strategy.

"Long-standing musculoskeletal conditions are a major cause of long-term disability, ill-health and ultimately the inability to work," said Ros Meek, Director of ARMA. "It is truly appalling to find so many serious failings in the identification and management of these conditions across the country. We want to see real leadership from the Department of Health in rectifying this, starting with a new plan for better care. The people living with these conditions deserve not to be ignored."

'Musculoskeletal conditions' is a term which encompasses around 200 different problems affecting the muscles, joints and skeleton2. Over 9.6 million adults, and around 12,000 children, have a musculoskeletal condition in England today2. These conditions impose a huge burden on the country with NHS costs in 2006-7 totalling over £3.5 billion3 and 11.2 million working days lost per annum on average over the last three years4.

The development and distribution of this press release was sponsored by Roche Products Ltd.

Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA)

ARMA, a registered charity, is the umbrella organisation for the UK musculoskeletal community, bringing together 36 patient / user and professional organisations campaigning for better services for people living with musculoskeletal conditions. The member organisations of ARMA are:

- Arthritis Care
- Arthritis Research Campaign (ARC)
- BackCare
- Birmingham Arthritis Resource Centre
- British Chiropractic Association
- British Health Professionals in Rheumatology
- British Institute of Musculoskeletal Medicine (BIMM)
- British Orthopaedic Association
- British Osteopathic Association
- British Sjogren's Syndrome Association (BSSA)
- British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent
Rheumatology (BSPAR)
- British Society for Rheumatology (BSR)
- British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine
- Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
- Children's Chronic Arthritis Association
- COT Specialist Section - Rheumatology
- Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Network (ERAN)
- Fibromyalgia Association
- Lupus UK
- MACP
- Marfan Association (UK)
- McTimoney
- National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society (NASS)
- National Association for the Relief of Paget's Disease
- National Osteoporosis Society
- National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS)
- Podiatry Rheumatic Care Association
- Primary Care Rheumatology Society
- Psoriasis Association
- Psoriasis & Psoriatic Arthritis Alliance (PAPAA)
- Raynaud's and Scleroderma Association
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Surgical Society
- Royal College of Nursing Rheumatology Forum
- RSI Action
- Scleroderma Society
- Society for Back Pain Research (SBPR)

The musculoskeletal services strategy

The musculoskeletal services strategy was launch in 2006 by current Secretary of State for Health Andy Burnham MP.

The report

The report published - Joint working? An audit of the Department of Health's musculoskeletal services Strategy- was kindly supported by an initial grant from the British Society of Rheumatology as well as DePuy UK and Roche Products Ltd, who also sponsored the development and distribution of this press release.

References

1. Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance. Joint working? An audit of the Department of Health's musculoskeletal services strategy July 2009

2. Department of Health. A joint responsibility: doing it differently - the musculoskeletal services framework. July 2006

3. Department of Health. Departmental Report 2008. May 2008

4. Hansard. 26 January 2009, Col. 84W

Source
NHS