FINAL WORD

MSK PARTNERSHIP’S COMMUNITY HEALTH TEST AT THE BRIDGE

‘Musculoskeletal health is critical for human function, enabling mobility, dexterity, and the ability to work and actively participate in all aspects of life.’

(Briggs et al 2021)

MSK disorders affect around ten million people across the UK and account for the fourth largest NHS programme budget spend of £5billion in England. We now know they account for the biggest part of the workload of the health service, 40% of which is due to potentially preventable risk factors.

The impact of Covid has seen waits for community service increase and access for people with MSK conditions harder than it has ever been locally. This has a huge potential to impact MSK conditions becoming more chronic. For some people, advice and guidance are all that is needed to support their self-management, but for others, more comprehensive intervention is needed.

We have evidenced the incredible impacts that personalised care has on people and the NHS. The transformative experience this has on those receiving and delivering care when the conversation shifts from ‘what’s the matter with you?’ to ‘what matters to you’. We also recognise that some people need support beyond their MSK condition and that connecting people to the community they live in is an important part of their health and wellbeing, and potential recovery.

With all this in mind, Sussex MSK Partnership wanted to create an event that identified what matters most to people and act on the information we find out, by providing the right care for that person on the same day. The concept of the Community Appointment Day was born, offering people access to multiple specialties and healthcare professionals within one appointment, under one roof.

We took our team out of their regular clinical setting to meet people where they were in their community. Over 300 patients were invited to The Bridge Leisure Centre to connect with a range of professionals and specialities tailored to their individual needs. With a holistic lens and personalised approach to care, every attendee had an initial conversation to help us to fully understand what matters most to them and what they may be feeling about their health and wider life story. We asked questions to help build a bigger picture of a person’s expectations, goals, what selfhelp they may have tried so far and what they wanted from their time with us.

Based on this conversation, people were then signposted to the most relevant areas of the hall for their needs. We made time for individuals and clinicians to assess and explore symptoms together in partnership, really getting to understand how people were being impacted, whilst building the knowledge, skills, and confidence together to help them make decisions on the next steps that worked best for them. Our rehabilitation team were on hand to tailor exercises for individuals and support them in understanding the impact of physical activity and why movement matters.

As we know people with MSK conditions will often present with other health and social concerns alongside symptoms, we invited a range of local community service providers, including Citizens Advice, Horsham District Wellbeing, Mind, Samaritans, and more, to join us in our Community Hub. This area supported individual needs by providing advice, information, and guidance, whilst promoting health and wellbeing for all.

The Community Appointment Day at The Bridge Leisure Centre was positively received by both service users and staff working in the service. Although many people weren’t sure what to fully expect from the day on arrival, people left with an overwhelming sense of having been listened to. Most people felt they had a better understanding of their concerns and more knowledge and guidance of what they could take away, to move forward in their health journey. Not only was there a benefit for our service users, but our staff too. The day provided an opportunity for the team to step out of their normal day, support each other, and work together, all whilst having sight of what’s available in the community to support people beyond just an MSK problem.

We aimed to empower patients to take control of their health journey and it feels like The Community Appointment Day did just that. sussexmskpartnershipcentral.co.uk