MSKPN showcase success at Therapy Expo

Reflecting on their inaugural major event featuring keynote sessions and a stand, MSKPN shares insights into the factors contributing to its success, highlights of the discussions, and the valuable lessons gained.

MSKPN showcase success at Therapy Expo

We’ve just come back from two days at the MSK Conference at Birmingham NEC, running alongside Therapy Expo on 23-23 November 2023. It was a busy time with two keynote sessions, lots of networking and meeting up with friends old and new.

MSKPN (Musculoskeletal Partners Network) is a trade association committed to improving quality and raising standards, through a collective voice, enabling private musculoskeletal practices to grow and thrive. We run an exciting programme which involves implementing outcomes measures to demonstrate the valuable and innovative work independent MSK practitioners are delivering.

Photo l-r: Nicola Graham, Natasha Price, Claire Small, Lucy Goldby, Simon Lack

Discovering the real value of MSK healthcare

In our first session “Innovation – how can curiosity unlock value”, Nicola Graham, MSKPN Board Director and MD of Tops Health, discussed why curiosity can assist strategically in relation to innovation and performance in organisations.

She was joined by MSKPN members, Simon Lack of Pure Sports Medicine and Lucy Goldby of Balance Physio. Lucy challenged the audience to think about collecting data, explaining it is not as complicated as people make out. Simon went on to explain his journey reflecting on the difficulties in getting going and how they overcame those challenges. Both discussed what the data is actually telling them and how they are implementing it within their organisations.

Next Peter Watson of First Contact Health talked about how, having helped drive the changes in the Optical and Veterinary marketplace for over 35 years, he recognised and anticipated similar developments in the MSK industry. He describes what MSK healthcare needs to do to prove its value, looking at lessons from other industries.

Multi-disciplinary working

Session 2 began by looking at “Lessons from the Coalface”. Claire Small, Chief Clinical Officer of Pure Sports Medicine and Chair of the MSKPN Quality Committee explained it’s easy to talk about MDTs but making it work in practice is a lot harder. You’ve got to get everyone to buy into the vision and beat the hierarchy whilst recognising everyone has their super powers. Attitude is what matters, not aptitude.

We then heard from Natasha Price, MSKPN Board Director and MD of Central Health, who discussed views on working in a customer service industry, asking how clinicians working in MSK healthcare balance giving patients what they want with delivering evidence informed care.

Business models and growth

Before our second day, we carried out 2 polls on X and Linked in, asking you to help us pick the right topics to debate in our Q&A. Do you want help with workforce or working practices? Or is it business growth or using AI that floats your boat? The results were unanimous across both platforms – Business models and growth came top, followed by Data/AI and workforce/skills mix.

Key messages considered: where is physiotherapy going, is it sustainable and affordable in its current state and what do we have to do to change it? Is high street physio the future? There was a consensus that we don’t generate enough income to be sustainable and training can be a challenge. What does the business model need to look like to provide a strong complementary service to the NHS?

The skillset needed for business growth was debated and whether or not other high street models such as vets, pharmacists and opticians are better equipped. To finish, we asked – Is there room for boutique physiotherapy?

We thank you for helping us shape our agenda for our final panel discussion involving several MSKPN members. The discussion was wide and deep with lots of food for thought on sustainability, profitability, collaboration, the future of MSK care, low value vs high value care and raising each other up.

A-E benefits of MSKPN membership

Finally, we must not forget Karen Young, Board Director of MSKPN and Co-founder Spear Physiotherapy, who skillfully managed the stand throughout, elevating the conference theme “Working Together” by engaging multiple audiences in discussions about the advantages of being part of the MSKPN community:

Poster Competition success

We must also congratulate Nicola Graham on winning the Poster competition. Her poster entitled “Leadership and performance management in independent MSK organisations: a qualitative study” was chosen by the judges because it was an innovative topic in the MSK space. The specific research question addressed was – What are the beliefs and practices of business leaders within independent MSK clinics in relation to leadership and performance management?

So why was the event a success and what did we learn?

The MSK Show felt like it was the first step towards changing the conversation about where physiotherapy is going. It stimulated lots of thoughts and discussions for physio owners and was a really great forum to meet a lot of people.

We’re proud of what MSKPN has achieved, having developed an engaging and interactive community of business owners. We have also negotiated a range of exclusive member discounts to deliver commercial benefit and enable businesses to thrive.

We want to work and collaborate with more organisations in MSK. Contact us today https://mskpn.co.uk/our-members/