FHFT launched the free getUBetter app in February 2023 to help staff and patients with musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries and conditions manage their symptoms at home and give patients the confidence to self-manage common MSK conditions.
Dr Lalitha Iyer, Chief Medical Officer at NHS Frimley, said: “The app includes day by day and step by step guidance, exercises based on an individual’s stage of recovery and a symptom checker with advice to seek help when needed.”
It’s been just over a year since we launched, and now getUBetter has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as one of the five digital health technologies to be used by the NHS to help manage non-specific low back pain (LBP) in people 16 years and over.
According to the NHS Long Term Plan, lower back and neck pain is the greatest cause of years lost to disability, accounting for 7% of all GP consultations in England. The recommendation comes as part of the wider early value assessment report of technologies to provide people with the resources they need to self-manage and support healthcare professionals to ease the strain on resource use.
getUBetter’s CEO & Founder, Carey McClellan, said; “Lower back pain has huge socioeconomic implications and there is an absolute need to support people to self-manage their MSK conditions with evidence-based and locally configured digital support. getUBetter has been independently evaluated against the NICE framework evidencing positive impact on health utilisation, including reduction of GP appointments, physiotherapy referrals and prescriptions for medication.”
According to the NICE report, the technologies can be used within the NHS setting while more evidence is generated, providing they meet appropriate regulations. getUBetter already has all appropriate approvals, meets the standards within NHS England's Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC), and has been deployed in over a third of NHS integrated care systems (ICSs), with 83% of GPs in the Frimley ICS area being signed up.
getUBetter provides digital self-management support for all common MSK injuries and conditions, including lower back pain. The 12 condition pathways covered in the package include: back, back and leg, hip, knee, ankle, neck, shoulder, elbow, tendinopathy arm and leg, and sprains and strains of the leg. All pathways include targeted support for patients on waiting lists, experiencing pain, struggling to work, and living with arthritis.
Users can now go directly to the app store instead of going through the initial email linking process, meaning that those in the area who do not have a GP practice or staff who work in the Frimley system can access getUBetter by choosing 'Frimley' when they create an account.