Six physiotherapists to advise ICBs in national bid to speed up patients’ access to MSK treatments

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Jan 2, 2025

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News | Service design

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Ian McMillan

Six consultant physiotherapists are to advise integrated care systems (ICSs) in England with the worst waiting lists for elective community musculoskeletal (MSK) services.

On 18 December 2024, GIRFT [Getting It Right First Time] announced details of a £3.5m programme of activity – funded by the government’s Joint Work and Health Directorate – that will involve 17 ICSs.

Six regional clinical advisers with physiotherapy backgrounds will support the ICSs, working alongside Andy Bennett, GIRFT’s clinical lead for MSK who is also a physiotherapist.

The physios are as follows

Simon Ingram (South West), a consultant physiotherapist from Somerset NHS FT

Sunette Moore (South East), a consultant physiotherapist from NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB

Edward Baker (Midlands), a consultant physiotherapist from NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB

Diarmuid Ferguson (North East and Yorkshire), a consultant physiotherapist from Northumbria Healthcare NHS FT

Laura Atherton (North West), a consultant physiotherapist from NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB

Fiona Wood (London), a consultant physiotherapist from Homerton Healthcare NHS FT

They are joined by a further adviser, Linus Onah (East of England), a GP from NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB

The focus is on

reducing waiting times for a community MSK appointment

improving access to MSK treatment

supporting people back into work

The ICBs will receive funding and support from the GIRFT MSK Community Delivery Programme to develop more efficient ways of getting MSK patients treated, off waiting lists and back onto the path of employment.

Part of the government’s Plan for Change, the initiative is funded by the Joint Work and Health Directorate (run jointly by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care).

GIRFT will support the 17 ICBs taking part to improve the quality and accessibility of MSK services; to strengthen NHS MSK infrastructure and improve performance; and to improve health and work outcomes for people with a MSK condition.

The programme is being delivered using the principles and methodology of GIRFT’s Further Faster20programme, which encourages NHS trusts to go ‘further and faster’ in transforming patient pathways to reduce waiting times in areas of high economic inactivity.

MSK conditions affect more than 20 million people in the UK (around one in three of the population) and up to 30 per cent of GP consultations in England are for MSK complaints. Waiting lists for MSK community services stood at around 350,000 people in September 2024 (348,799) – the highest of all community service waiting lists.

Tim Briggs is GIRFT chair and NHS England’s national director of clinical improvement and elective recovery. He said: ‘GIRFT has a proven record of spearheading improvements in care and this initiative could make a real difference to MSK patients and help them return to work.’

Professor Briggs added: ‘ICBs will be able to assess their current services and share examples of best practice to roll out innovative ways of working. The NHS will also improve data on how services are performing and the link between waits for care and employment status.’

To support the community MSK work, GIRFT has produced an operational handbook that provides checklists that community MSK leads and ICSs can use to assess current practice and delivery of services. The handbook contains information on a range of resources and aligns with the principles and actions shared in NHS England’s Improvement Framework to reduce MSK waits whilst delivering best outcomes and experience.

Click to access the GIRFT FF20 Community MSK Handbook

The handbook signposts to resources that support practitioners to

optimise referrals to community triage and therapies services

ensure appropriate triage is in place to recognise urgent conditions requiring onward referral to secondary care.

deliver rehabilitation and self-management

reduce number of ‘did not attend’ incidences and implement patient-initiated follow-up appointments

‘Get Britain Working’

The Government announced the launch of the Get Britain Working White Paper in November 2024 as part of the biggest reforms to employment support for a generation, bringing together skills and health to get more people into work and get on in work.

Employment minster Alison McGovern said: ‘For too long people locked out of work with health issues have been forgotten about and denied the support they need to get well and get working. It’s stifling our economy and preventing those eager to progress in life from unleashing their full potential. This multi-million-pound funding boost means MSK patients across the country will get the help they need, as we give clinical leaders the resources to innovate, get people off waiting lists and get Britain working again.’

Minister for public health and prevention Andrew Gwynne said: ‘With prevention, early detection and treatment, we know that the 17 million people in England living with musculoskeletal issues could better manage their conditions, improving their quality of life and enabling them to rejoin the workforce. Through the Plan for Change, the government is taking decisive action to drive down waiting lists, improve treatment options and boost the economy.’

The 17 ICBs taking part in the programme are