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Brace before Replace!

Brace before Replace!

Not just a pandemic solution but an on-going solution for MSK services

Lengthy waiting lists for knee replacements, put “on hold” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mean that hospital trusts throughout the UK face an unprecedented task in clearing the backlog.  It is estimated that 28,404,603 elective surgeries have been cancelled or postponed during the 3 months of COVID-19 lockdown.

 Before the pandemic, we had been working on a pilot project to refer patients with unicompartmental OA for an Unloader One brace as a treatment intervention.  This work appears to be more important than ever in assisting secondary, primary and community care in clearing the pandemic backlog in elective care.

 Following the successful delivery, by Sussex MSK Partnership, of an ICATS MSK service for osteoarthritis in the knee, it is proposed that further smaller clinics should be offered, in a primary care setting, via First Contact Practitioner (FCP), Specialist Brace Fitter and/or FP10 (applied for).  It is believed that the data collection from the clinics will support the expansion of these services, highlighting the importance of this treatment intervention as part of a national clinical pathway.

 The ICATS MSK service, which has been commissioned for the last 30 months, is in line with NICE guidelines 177 (1.4.8).  Primary, community and secondary care clinical collaboration ensures that the patient gets the most appropriate service, first time, due to good clinical ownership and sound management. 

 

 

What is needed to sustain the change?

What is your region?

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edited on Jul 13, 2020 by Kyle Beacham
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Greta McLachlan Jun 3, 2020

Status labels added: Equipment to improve pathways, Primary and secondary care int, Integration of resources, Implementation, Pathway Redesign, Horizon 1

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Greta McLachlan Jun 3, 2020

The idea has been progressed to the next milestone.

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Kyle Beacham Jul 13, 2020

Status labels removed: Equipment, Implementation, Integration Of Resources, Pathway Redesign, Prim/Sec Integration

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Ben Austen Jul 16, 2020

There is already an offloading knee brace available on FP10 prescription, the Action Reliever by Thuasne.

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