Around 7,500 people with back, joint and muscle issues were assessed more quickly during the pilot phase of the GIRFT Musculoskeletal Community Delivery Programme (MSK CDP).
An evaluation carried out by the GIRFT team shows the MSK CDP contributed to a 20% reduction in 18+ week community MSK waiting lists in the first cohort of 17 participating integrated care systems* (ICSs) between December 2024 and March 2025. No significant changes were seen in the 25 non-participating ICSs in the same period.
The £3.5m programme of activity – funded by the Government’s Joint Work and Health Directorate (JWHD) and delivered by GIRFT – supported colleagues in the 17 ICSs to work together to develop more efficient ways of treating patients with back, joint and muscle issues, getting them back onto the path of employment and off waiting lists.
The programme adapted the principles and methodology of the GIRFT Further Faster programme, with a six-point plan supporting systems to evaluate their local community MSK provision, guided by a Further Faster handbook, and identify high impact interventions to reduce their waiting list backlog while sustaining best patient outcomes and patient experience.
Successful interventions during the pilot included trialling new digital tools and innovative one-day clinics bringing health specialists and wider support services together, allowing people to engage with multiple services in one visit.
The second cohort of the MSK CDP is currently ongoing and is being implemented in six ICBs, supported by a further £2.2m of funding from JWHD.
Latest figures show 2.5 million people in the UK are economically inactive due to long-term ill health. In 2024/2025 around 545,000 (21% of) people aged 16-64 years who were economically inactive due to long-term sick, self-reported MSK as their main condition.
Andrew Bennett, GIRFT clinical lead for community MSK, who led on the pilot, said:
It has been amazing to see the focus this NHS pilot has given to community MSK waiting lists.
We were delighted with the positive response from all those involved and the drive to improve the delivery of commissioned cMSK services. From our regional clinical leads to the system leads to the clinicians delivering the care to patients, everyone has shown a commitment to the approach and a determination to reduce the backlog.
We hope the learning from this programme will now enable further recovery and transformation of services to improve outcomes in the longer term.
Professor Tim Briggs, GIRFT programme lead and National Director for Clinical Improvement and Elective Recovery for NHS England, said:
“Back pain, arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions are key causes of sickness absence, and the fact that these NHS pilots cut waiting lists by 20 per cent is great news for thousands of patients, helping many back into employment.
It is especially encouraging that the NHS England Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) initiative led to some innovative ways of working among the participating NHS teams, allowing patients to receive help from multiple services in one visit, including mental health, employment support and debt management advice.”
Minister for Health Stephen Kinnock said:
“The success of this scheme shows how this government is taking a new approach to cutting NHS waiting lists, modernising the NHS, and getting people healthy and back into work.
Offering multiple services under one roof, with tailored care for that specific person, demonstrates that we’re building a true Neighbourhood Health Service, and we’ll take the learnings from this pilot as we roll out our 10 Year Health Plan.
With more care in the community, everyone wins. Patients get the best care, and the NHS gets people back to work, acting as an engine of economic growth.”
Minister for Employment Dame Diana Johnson MP said:
“No one should feel locked out of work due to health issues. We invested in this support to help people get well and get working.
The results are clear: musculoskeletal patients are getting the help they need and innovation supports them into work and gets people off waiting lists.
Getting Britain working remains a key priority, and this support is one tangible way we are doing it.”
*The 17 ICSs in cohort one were:
- Birmingham and Solihull ICB
- Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire ICB
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICB
- Cheshire (NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB) ICB
- Cornwall ICB
- Devon ICB
- Dorset ICB
- Greater Manchester ICB – Manchester / Oldham
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB
- Leicester Leicestershire & Rutland ICB
- Norfolk and Waveney ICB
- North Central London ICB
- North East and North Cumbria ICB
- North East London ICB
- Northamptonshire ICB
- Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB
- Sussex ICB
