‘One-day clinics’ for musculoskeletal conditions to help people return to work

Patients living with arthritis and back pain will receive faster care and help to return to work with the rollout of a £3.2m scheme, the Government has announced.

The England-wide funding for musculoskeletal conditions – estimated to affect nearly 18 million people in the country – will support ‘innovative’ one-day clinics that bring health specialists, mental health support and physical activity services together in one location.

These will be complemented by so-called ‘super clinics’, which aim to rapidly increase clinical capacity and provide one-to-one, in-depth diagnostics and targeted treatments.

The funds will be targeted at areas with the greatest need to remove the ‘postcode lottery’ in service provision, the Department of Health and Social Care announced today (28 May).

The work falls under NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Musculoskeletal Community Delivery Programme, designed to tackle ‘one of UK’s leading causes of health-related economic inactivity’. More than half a million people who are economically inactive for health reasons report a musculoskeletal condition, according to government figures.

A pilot of the GIRFT initiative, trialled in 17 areas between December 2024 and March 2025, cut 18-week waiting lists by 20%. The pilot also tested approaches such as digital tools to help patients manage their conditions remotely, which will be considered in the England-wide rollout.

‘I’m delighted to announce the national rollout of such a successful scheme, which will help address the unacceptably long waits for painful musculoskeletal conditions,’ said minister for public health and prevention Sharon Hodgson.

‘The NHS should drive economic growth, and by getting people with painful musculoskeletal conditions the care they need faster, they stand a better chance of getting a job and back to normal life.’

The focus on musculoskeletal conditions was welcomed by Sue Hayward-Giles, assistant director of practice and development at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

‘Faster access to the expert assessment, diagnosis and treatment that physiotherapists and other key professionals provide will reduce waiting lists and help keep people in work – or help them return quickly – while reducing the impact on other parts of the system,’ she said.

‘If successful, this initiative is good news for patients and the NHS and represents a long overdue recognition of the critical importance of addressing musculoskeletal health.’