Project Update

  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.pdf
IA Patient Tool.pdf
IA Primary & Secondary Resources Tool.pdf
IA Referral times PATIENT tool.pdf
IA 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 Care for people with osteoarthritis

OA Tools.pdf

  Good Practice

To access ARMA’s Good Practice database, click here. Don’t forget to submit your examples, and encourage your colleagues, particularly in primary care to do the same.

To submit examples of good practice, or to find out more about the audit tools please contact Ros Meek by e-mail: rosmeek@arma.uk.net.