NHS England will regularly collect MSK data by 2018

^{Steve Tolan welcomed the mandate’s commitment to improve MSK data collection and better use of IT to benefit of patients}

The mandate, published on 20 March, is a way for the government to set objectives for NHS England and hold it to account for performance.

It says that NHS England will ‘work with government to identify opportunities for regular collection of data about incidence, prevalence, clinical activity and outcomes of musculoskeletal patients and services in England.’

The CSP’s head of practice Steve Tolan said: ‘This is a fantastic step forward. MSK problems routinely come out as major issue in the World Health Organization’s global burden of disease project.

‘So it’s great that NHS England will be looking to understand and address the issues and services associated with dealing with these conditions’.

NHS England also has a 2018 deadline to introduce a ‘high quality’ appointment booking app, which will give patients access to a full medical record.

Also by next year, it must make ‘measurable’ progress in enabling all GP referrals for a first outpatient appointment to be made using the NHS e-referral service.

Mr Tolan said: ‘Every outpatient service will have to be compliant with receiving electronic referrals from GPs by next year. So it’s another contribution to the paperless NHS agenda.’