Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions affect many people and can affect your joints, bones and muscles and sometimes tissues such as your nerves. They can range from minor injuries to long-term conditions.
The Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System is collaborating on a programme to improve MSK health and services.
Why do we need to transform local MSK services?
- Over 22% of people are physically inactive, leading to lots of joint, bone and muscle problems.
- 30% of all our GP appointments are related to MSK conditions like back pain.
- Access to services is not equitable.
- We don’t do enough to help people self-manage their conditions at home.
- We don’t do enough to help prevent MSK issues from happening.
The MSK Transformation Programme
We established the MSK Transformation Programme in June 2021 to improve MSK services in Birmingham and Solihull. There are four priorities in the programme:
Why is it a focus?
There is a lot of variation in the care pathways MSK patients follow. That means that some get an excellent service and others don’t. We are working to standardise pathways and services to help everyone get access to the MSK care they need.
What is being done?
We are introducing a tool called OrthoPathways. It supports clinical decision-making by helping clinicians follow a set of standardised MSK pathways. The pathways were written by clinicians from across Birmingham and Solihull ICS. We are piloting it at the moment and hope to roll it out across our system soon.
Want to get involved?
If you’re a primary care clinician, your practice can be part of our roll-out. Get in touch to discuss the benefits for you and your patients: lynda.hutton3@nhs.net
Why is it a focus?
We know that lots of people can self-manage their MSK condition or injury and recover well with a little bit of support. We don’t offer enough self-management which means that many people wait longer than they need to.
What is being done?
We are introducing a mobile app called getUBetter. getUBetter is a digital tool which provides 24/7 self-management support for people with MSK conditions, building a personalised plan which helps people recover. Of course a digital solution doesn’t suit everybody, but getUBetter will be a fantastic tool for many.
Want to find out more?
If you’re a primary care clinician, your practice can be part of our roll-out. Get in touch to discuss the benefits for you and your patients: david.rogers4@nhs.net
Why is it a focus?
Birmingham and Solihull have significant MSK issues and the need for services and MSK professionals to deliver them is growing. Our MSK workforce is dynamic and innovative, but there is not yet a comprehensive strategy for the future which sets out a plan to grow, train, retain and support our MSK workforce of the future.
What is being done?
We have looked at the data about how many MSK professionals work in BSol and compared this with the health needs of the population. We are now working with BSol partners to plan for the future and create a workforce plan which meets our needs.
Want to get involved?
If you’d like to contribute to how we plan the workforce of the future, please contact: david.rogers4@nhs.net
Why is it a focus?
22% of our BSol population is not active enough and obesity is a significant issue for children and adults. Supporting people to lose weight and move more will have a significant impact on reducing MSK issues and helping people to live well.
What is being done?
We have undertaken a number of initiatives to support third sector health and wellbeing organisations to connect with healthcare. We have also redeveloped tools like Route2Wellbeing to make signposting to health and wellbeing support easier.
Want to find out more?
If you’d like to find out more about how we’re supporting public health, patient information and signposting, please contact: a.mallard@nhs.net
Find out more about the programme
The MSK Transformation Programme is being delivered by partners from across Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System. It is a collaborative programme and everyone is welcome to get involved.
People have helped to drive this programme forward and ensured the voice of people is at the centre of how we make decisions. We want you to continue to be involved and support better MSK health. To get involved contact: a.mallard@nhs.net
Your engagement really matters
Your engagement has helped to shape the ambition of this programme and ensure it is collaborative, practical and meets your needs. We need your continued engagement as the programme develops. To get involved contact: david.rogers4@nhs.net
The national MSK agenda
A five year strategic framework for MSK prevention is available to read here. The purpose of this document is to provide stakeholders and our system collaborators with a clear statement of PHE, NHS England and Versus Arthritis’s commitments to promote MSK health and to prevent MSK conditions.
NHS England: MSK
Read more from NHS England on MSK health and elective service recovery
Best MSK health
Read the presentation 'The future of MSK and the Best MSK health Collaborative' by Andrew Bennett, National Clinical Director Musculoskeletal Conditions at NHS England and NHS Improvement.
The MSK Digital Playbook
Learn about digital solutions to support the patient journey through secondary care here.