Standards

      Standards of Care If you have questions, ideas about implementation of these standards or further improvements please leave a comment at the end of this page or contact ARMA.       Standards of Care Survey Have you used the ARMA Standards of Care in your work? If so, please tell us how! As part of ARMA’s ongoing review of the Standards project, we are mapping how the ARMA Standards of Care are being used across the country. We’d be grateful if you could complete the short questionnaire below to tell us how you have used the Standards. ARMA Standards of Care Questionnaire (PDF version) ARMA Standards of Care Questionnaire (Word version)                     Implementation Work With the Standards of Care for seven condition areas now published, the process of promoting them and encouraging their implementation. There are already enthusiastic teams and individuals doing great work up and down the country, and we continue to collect examples of good practice. ARMA has also developed audit tools for the Standards of care for people with inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis and back pain. If you would like more information about any of these projects, please contact Ros Meek, e-mail: rosmeek@arma.uk.net The following are some of the published guidelines available. BSR BSR Guidelines web page Government Health Policy National Service Framework on Long Term ConditionsSupporting People With Long Term Conditions Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network Guideline 48: Management of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Guideline 56: Prevention and Management of Hip Fracture in Older PeopleGuideline 71: Management of Osteoporosis National Institute for Clinical Excellence National Standards, Local Action: Health and Social Care Standards and Planning Framework Technology Appraisals Hip disease – replacement prostheses (No. 2)Knee joints (defective) – autologous cartilage transplantation (No. 16)Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis – cox II inhibitors (No. 27)ArthritisRead mome....

           Standards of Care – Project Update ARMA works in partnership with its Member organisations to improve standards of care for people with arthritis and other musculoskeletal disorders. Recent activities and initiatives include: Joint Working- An audit of the implementation of the Department of Health’s musculoskeletal services framework Setting standards of Care including- Inflammatory Arthritis, Musculoskeletal Foot Health Problems, Osteoarthritis, Regional Musculoskeletal Pain, Connective Tissue Diseases, Back Pain, Metabolic Bone Diseases and the most recent publication of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (published April 2010). ARMA Charter for work for people affected by musculoskeletal disorders in the UK. Campaigning to improve services – pressing for higher priority for arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions with policy makers and service planners. Influencing policy – responding to government and health service consultations on behalf of the arthritis/musculoskeletal community. Networking – providing opportunities for groups to work together and exchange information and ideas through seminars, conferences, debates and joint projects.                                                            Audit Tools ARMA was delighted to learn that there have been many clinicians and health professionals up and down the country already developing audit tools, to audit their service against the Standards of Care. To make their job easier and to enable comparable auditing processes, ARMA has established teams to develop audit tools for the first three Standards for inflammatory arthritis, back pain and osteoarthritis. Click below to view and download the tools for auditing the Standards of Care for people with inflammatory arthritis, back pain and osteoarthritis. Audit Tools for the Standards of Care for people with inflammatory arthritis IA Clinician’s Tool.pdfIA Patient Tool.pdfIA Primary & Secondary Resources Tool.pdfIA Referral times PATIENT tool.pdfIA Referral Times TEAM tool.pdf Audit Tools for the Standards of Care for people with back pain Back Pain Tools.pdf Audit Tools for the Standards of CareRead mome....

  Care Standards Documents      Care Standards Overview… As part of ARMA’s Standards of Care project, a group of people with a range of musculoskeletal conditions has come together to identify what needs to happen in health services to enable them to minimise the pain and disability of arthritis, and to help people remain independent. They have suggested reasonable expectations of care and services for all people with musculoskeletal conditions. People have a right to: Access to appropriate services for all people with musculoskeletal conditions Timely diagnosis and treatment Information Services which are centred on the needs of user Independence and self-determination These Standards aim to bring together existing evidence and best practice approaches to set out a framework for services which really meets the needs of the many people living with arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions.         Backpain These Standards of Care focus on ‘simple’ or ‘mechanical’  back pain. Unsurprisingly, back pain has a massive economic impact. It is the second commonest cause of long-term sickness absence for much of the UK, and the commonest for people in manual occupations.   Persistent back pain (ie pain which has lasted for more than three months or has been present on more than half the days of the previous year), in particular, has a serious impact on people’s lives. It frequently reduces people’s quality of life and adversely affects their family and social relationships. Back pain can also impact on a person’s ability to work, and compromise their earning capacity. Moreover, the longer someone is absent from work with back pain, the poorer their chances are of returning.          Inflammatory Arthritis  Inflammatory arthritis is the term used to describe a range of conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). These areRead mome....

                                                          Good Practice – Call for Information   ARMA is currently seeking information about good practice in musculoskeletal services around the UK, to support the Standards of Care (click here to download.) We are interested in hearing about the ‘little things done well’ as well as the ‘headline’ initiatives from all care settings.                                                       You can now download our Good Practice form (MS word doc), complete and return to us at info@arma.uk.net Examples could come from primary care, secondary care, tertiary care, AHP provided services, social services, voluntary organisations and shared care organisations. They can relate to any aspect of musculoskeletal service provision, from commissioning and planning to delivery and evaluation. Examples of good practice can be viewed on our database. Disclaimer By submitting your good practice example you are consenting for any submitted information to be in the public domain. All examples of good practice will be reviewed by our multi-disciplinary review panel. ARMA reserves the right not to include all submitted examples