ABSTRACT
The range of musculoskeletal disorders is very wide, and overlaps occur between the specialties of rheumatology and orthopaedics, as well as between the many disciplines involved in caring for patients with these conditions. Musculoskeletal disorders are conditions that require teamwork to achieve the best results for individual patients. The primary care team may include GPs and practice nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, non-clinical staff and community pharmacists, and often extends to include shared care with secondary care services. Clinical governance involves doing 'anything and everything required to maximise quality'. It should create a culture and working environment in which people thrive and feel fulfilled by their work but where, at the same time, under-performance is identified and corrected. Education and training programmes should be relevant to service needs, whether at organisational or individual levels. Continuing professional development (CPD) programmes need to meet both the learning needs of individual health professionals and the wider service development needs of the NHS.
