Who is the Sussex MSK Central Team?

The team is largely made up of Patient Care Advisors, Extended Scope Practitioners and Consultants.  We aim to transform people’s experience of being treated for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions (those conditions which affect the muscles, joints or bones) by putting people in control of their own healthcare and delivering care that is tailored to individual needs.

How do we work?

We put those with musculoskeletal conditions at the centre of everything we do, shifting the question from “what’s the matter?” to “what matters to you?” This involves enabling people to

• Understand health choices and feel involved in their care journey.
• Have visibility of their care journey and be able to hold us to account for delivery of health goals.
• Be supported to self-manage MSK conditions.

What do we do?

We support the four main areas of MSK care:

1. Self Care – giving people and their carers the tools needed to manage their condition as part of your everyday life at home, and connecting them with people and organisations who can continue to support them.
2. Primary Care – working with GPs and Practice Nurses to make sure they are connected to our service, ensuring that they have the latest education and training to deliver the most up to date treatment and care, and when people are discharged after being seen by our service, their GP is connected to and understands their care plan.
3. Community Based Specialist MSK Care – community teams of physiotherapists, podiatrists, doctors, specialist nurses, osteopaths and occupational therapists to deliver a truly joined up service with clinical staff all working together to agree a care plan which recognises the individual’s health goals and supports people to achieve those goals.
4. Hospital Care – if an operation is needed, giving people a choice of a wide range of hospitals. We work with hospital teams to ensure that people receive the right care and appropriate follow up and rehabilitation following surgery.

Visions and Values

Our values were created by members of staff and patients and reflect what’s important to us individually and as a service. Every year we take time to come together to reflect on what they mean to us, how we see them in action and what we need to do to bring them more to life in the service on a day-to-day basis.

Keeping these values in mind and reflecting on them regularly helps us to stay focused on what really matters and support us to deliver a service we can be proud of.

The SMSKP values are:

Integrity and Transparency – ‘Visible decisions and shared goals’

Autonomy, Proactivity and Accountability – ‘Responsible and response-able’

Respect and Compassion for patients and colleagues – ‘Seeing the whole person’

Learning and development for all – ‘Bringing out the best’

Innovation and Creativity – ‘Leading the way’

Positivity and Passion – ‘Celebrating success and team work’