Helping to make an impact in MSK care

How our MSK training is making a difference

When health and care professionals come along to our training events, we ask if they’d mind completing a couple of surveys for us. This year, we have delivered training to 3,633 delegates, and we wanted to share the results of our surveys from the last 12 months with you so that you can see the difference that our training makes.

We ask our training attendees to rate themselves on a scale of one to five before and after the session so that we can see the average percentage improvement across four different areas.

The results, based on 617 survey respondents between 1st April 2025 and 31st March 2026, are as follows:

• Average percentage improvement in knowledge of training topic: 43%
  (Average score before training: 3.02 / 5.00 vs. Average score after training: 4.35 / 5.00)
• Average percentage improvement in MSK examination skills: 24%
  (Average score before training: 3.29 / 5.00 vs. Average score after training: 4.19 / 5.00)
• Average percentage improvement in confidence diagnosing MSK conditions: 25%
  (Average score before training: 3.30 / 5.00 vs. Average score after training: 4.23 / 5.00)
• Average percentage improvement in confidence treating MSK conditions: 26%
  (Average score before training: 3.38 / 5.00 vs. Average score after training: 4.35 / 5.00)

This means that MSK examination skills and confidence in diagnosing and treating MSK conditions have all improved on average by around a quarter for health and care professionals who have taken part in our training. Their knowledge of the MSK topics covered has also improved by almost half, with professionals scoring themselves on average 4.35 out of 5.00 in this area following the training compared to just 3.02 out of 5.00 beforehand.

Here is some feedback we’ve received from professionals who have recently attended our courses:

“Really well run and organised workshop. Everything was thoroughly explained and organised.” Physiotherapist, Northern Ireland, March 2026.

“It [has] enhanced my skills to make decisions and to discuss the management in a better way.” GP, England, December 2025.

“I loved the practical advice in assessing and managing all the MSK conditions… [the trainer] brought this to a basic level which will help in understanding MSK going forward.” Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Northern Ireland, March 2026.

[When asked how the training will benefit patients] “Knowing how to communicate and support patients with chronic pain.” Physiotherapist, England, March 2026.

We also found that 94% of our training attendees said that they would recommend our training to others, and just over three quarters said that they were very likely to signpost people to Arthritis UK following the training session.

The outcome of all of these things combined is that people with arthritis are receiving improved treatment and care from their health and care professionals, whether that be their GP, physiotherapist, or someone else on their care team.

When people with arthritis attend our services, we also ask them to complete surveys for us about their experience. One of the things we ask is whether they have improved confidence when speaking with their health and care professionals following our support – in the last year, 71% told us that this was the case.

[When asked as a result of attending this session, are you planning to make any changes or take any actions] “I will be honest with my GP” Woman, aged 60-64, South England, February 2026.

If you would like to join us for a future training session, our MSK SKILLs programme is available through a mix of in-person and remote learning. 

We also host free-to-attend monthly webinars called SKILLs Sessions for those looking for a taster of the programme. 

Please visit our training page or contact professionalengagement@arthritis-uk.org for more information.