Comprehensive Spending Review: Investing in musculoskeletal health

20 October 2021
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Next week on Wednesday 27 October, the UK Government will announce how it plans to invest in public services as we recover from the pandemic, including how it will address the backlog of people waiting for treatment and support from the health and care services.

This is a critical time for the NHS and healthcare. With over 10 million people in the UK living with arthritis – one of the greatest causes of disability in the country – it is vital that healthcare services receive the support and investment that means these conditions can be treated properly.

Ahead of the review, we're calling on the Government to prioritise musculoskeletal health by:

investing in programmes that reduce waiting times for joint replacement surgery,

  • strengthening public health and prevention initiatives,
  • funding innovative research making arthritis preventable, treatable and manageable,
  • and supporting people’s health in the workplace.

A detailed spending plan to address the elective care backlog

Due to the pandemic, there are now record numbers of people waiting for NHS treatment, especially for planned care like joint replacement operations.

The lives of many people waiting for hip and knee replacements are on hold as waiting times for surgery have risen to record levels during the pandemic – over 690,000 people are waiting for treatment as of August 2021.

As a result, many people are now living with the devastating impact of chronic pain, are not able to work or enjoy life, and are experiencing financial hardship. Half of those with arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions awaiting surgery face increased costs to keep their pain at bay – on average paying £1739 per year.

In September, the UK Government announced that £9 billion will be invested in the Elective Recovery Fund, which was created in 2020 to support tackling the elective care backlog and reducing waiting times.

Any plan for how to spend the Elective Recovery Fund should focus on delivery in three key areas:

With the increasing threat of winter pressures on the NHS it is vital that investment ensures that progress is made on these pressing issues - a start-stop approach to planned care and surgery cannot become the status quo.

Prioritising the prevention of avoidable musculoskeletal pain

As a leading cause of avoidable pain and disability, any funding for public health and prevention initiatives must include musculoskeletal conditions as one of the UK’s major preventable health priorities.

Local authorities deliver a range of public health services that protect people’s musculoskeletal health, like physical activity programmes, through Public Health Grant funding. After years of cuts, the Public Health Grant is now 24% lower than in 2015/16, undermining the Government’s commitment to ‘level up health’.

We’ve joined with the Health Foundation and over 50 other leading health organisations to call for the Spending Review to provide an additional £1.4 billion annually to local public health budgets, in order to cope with the increased demands on the system coming out of the pandemic.

Supporting the health of employees in a post-COVID working environment

Living with a musculoskeletal condition can interfere with every aspect of life, including work. Due to the increase in home working, more people are now at risk of developing musculoskeletal problems as a result of working without access to suitable equipment.

With the right support from employers, people with musculoskeletal conditions can remain in work and thrive in their careers. Access to Work is a Government programme designed to help people with disabilities and long-term health conditions find and stay in work.

The Spending Review should guarantee that the level of spending on Access to Work is high enough to meet the level of demand, considering that the number of people needing support for a musculoskeletal problem is likely to have grown significantly as a result of the pandemic.

Funding innovation in musculoskeletal health research

Versus Arthritis is the largest public funder of musculoskeletal health research, spending over £112 million on cutting edge research.

We know that funding for Research and Development (R&D), including health and care research, is a reliable investment of public money; every pound of public funding in R&D brings in two pounds of private spending.

As part of last year’s Spending Review, the Government committed to spending £22 billion on R&D by 2024/25.

This year, Versus Arthritis has joined with 30 world-class science and technology bodies (498 KB, PDF) to ask the Government to provide the funding needed to meet this commitment and realise their ambition of making the UK is a science and technology superpower.

Tracey Loftis, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Versus Arthritis said:

“We know that people with arthritis are continuing to bear the brunt of the pandemic through widespread disruption to treatment and surgery.

“This year’s Spending Review should be measured against whether it sets a clear course towards our coming out of the pandemic in better health then the nation was in before it. That means investment in the building blocks that will be foundational for a healthy population.

“For healthcare, this means setting out a plan to tackle the backlog in joint replacement surgery and funding programmes which help people avoid developing musculoskeletal problems.

“In the workplace, we need to see easy access to support that protects people’s health and wellbeing, regardless of the setting that they work in. And in research, this means providing the funding needed to drive innovation and deliver better care for patients.”

Get Involved

We’re calling on politicians across the UK to make sure everyone waiting for joint replacement operations has access to support from their local health service now to help manage their pain, look after their mental health, and stay well for their operation.

You can support this campaign by writing to your MP today.

We’re here whenever you need us.