Musculoskeletal Disorders: Yeovil
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure people are able to access timely diagnoses for (a) arthritis and (b) musculoskeletal conditions in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Yeovil Hospital, is commissioned to provide all National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-approved biological medicines for arthritis, which, when used in appropriate patients, produce substantial clinical improvements.
The rheumatology department is a multi-disciplinary team of doctors, specialist nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers, occupational therapists, and administrative staff. Patients can be referred by their general practice (GP) teams for diagnosis, treatment and, when appropriate, long-term management of patients with a range of musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders, including inflammatory arthritis, soft tissue rheumatism, osteoarthritis, connective tissue diseases, and osteoporosis. Clinics run in Yeovil, Taunton, and at a number of community hospitals, depending on the condition.
NHS Somerset has a self-referral based MSK condition app, the getUBetter app, that helps provide support and exercises to patients with minor MSK conditions and complaints, and which includes support on returning work.
The Orthopaedic Assessment Service in Somerset provides a specialist opinion for patients who have an orthopedic or MSK problem where treatment by their GP, physiotherapist, or podiatrist has not managed the symptoms and where further assessment is required.
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