Health Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish (a) an arthritis action plan and (b) other disease-specific action plans following publication of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
There are currently no plans to publish an arthritis action plan following the publication of the 10-Year Health Plan.
Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). The Department expects MSK services to be fully incorporated into integrated care system planning and decision-making.
As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. With a £3.5 million funding boost, GIRFT teams will deploy their proven Further Faster model to work with ICB leaders to further reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with arthritis, and improve data and metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services.
To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, and in the provision of services for people living with arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, with further information on both available, respectively, at the following two links:
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