LAUSR

Keywords: Clinical Academic;Impact;Workforce Purpose: Research active healthcare organisations have improved patient outcomes compared to their non-research active counterparts (Hanney et al., 2013). To increase this activity there are growing opportunities for physiotherapists to be involved in clinical research. However, there are few roles that include time for that research (Westwood et al., 2018). Further, there are fewer opportunities for band 5 clinicians to gain research experience to foster research awareness. To impact the research awareness and clinical practice of our Band 5 rotational physiotherapists, a mixed research and clinical musculoskeletal rotation was implemented at a London Healthcare Trust. The objective of this service evaluation was to evaluate whether the rotation impacted the activity of these clinicians. Methods: The full time rotation was structured with 2 days research activity alongside 3 days clinical activity within musculoskeletal outpatients. Two band 5 physiotherapists were invited to undertake this 4 month rotation. Any prior research experience related to their physiotherapy qualification. They were trained and mentored by the Lead Clinical Academic for Therapies, and each research activity was supervised by pre-doctoral to post-doctoral Therapy clinical academic fellows. The rotation included completion of research relevant training, fortnightly mentorship, and research activity relating to on-going projects. These projects included two systematic reviews and a scoping review at different stages of completion, analysis of a national survey and conducting a COVID-19 related service evaluation. The physiotherapists were asked to provide feedback of their experience. Results: The therapists reported perceived improvement and new skills in: adapting to change, time management, understanding of research governance, use of reference management and data software, and management of data. The therapists also reported improvement in the ability to read, search, and appraise the literature, and applied these new skills to research projects. Importantly, they reported that all the skills were applied to their clinical workload, in particular to implementation of evidence base care. They reported that this confidence and skill led to evidence based discussions with their musculoskeletal out-patient colleagues. Further impacts have been that to date, the therapists have 1 paper in review and will co-author 2 additional papers. Finally, they have submitted two s for conference. Conclusion(s): The rotation provided an opportunity to develop research skills – both in theory and in practice. The structure of the rotation and time given for learning allowed for consolidation of new knowledge. The skills gained during the rotation had positive impact on approaches to patient care, as well as research activity. Limitations include the timing of research days within the working week, leading to challenges of adapting between clinical and non-clinical settings. This could be addressed by placing research days at the beginning or end of the week. Impact: Early adoption, training and practice of research activity impacts evidence based patient care, and the research awareness of the clinicians and their colleagues. This rotation has been established within the wider Therapies Department. The benefits reported could inspire creation of similar opportunities, and so serve as an important step in the paradigm shift towards research active clinical practice. Funding acknowledgements: No funding was received to conduct this service evaluation.