Act Now: Musculoskeletal Health Inequalities and Deprivation
The Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA) recently released their report ‘Act Now: Musculoskeletal Health Inequalities and Deprivation’. The report looks at how changes in the design and delivery of MSK services can address inequalities linked to deprivation, age, gender and ethnicity.
We are committed to tackling health inequality and are pleased to have assisted ARMA in this work and to be featured as a case study. SMSKPE have improved the accessibility of MSK services and seen a significant increase (68%) in the number of people self-referring to physio services. Our outreach work in collaboration with other agencies and partners is providing insights that enable us to continuously improve patient experience and we continue to develop and adapt to provide a personalised approach and make services easy and straightforward to access.
From the actions described in our case study, we have continued to track our initiatives. Our website footfall has increased by 91% since 2022. Utilising Accurx as a communication tool has helped to reduce non-attendance in our community clinics by 38%. Feedback from patients has been more substantial than ever before, increasing by 84% since 2022.
ARMAs report gives actionable steps to ensure equitable MSK care for all. If you are a healthcare professional, it’s well worth a read. If you currently are a patient or have lived experience, please give feedback. Your contributions help services identify and recognise their blind spots and consider how to improve. Read the report, here.