Data for impact: the project helping physios to evidence their practice

Physiotherapy has always been at the forefront of healthcare research and with good reason – high quality data collection, analysis and implementation informs best practice, drives innovation and ultimately transforms patient care.  

A great example of this is the Data for Impact (DfI) project – originally set up in 2009 by the University of Brighton and Physio First, the community for UK private practice physiotherapists and funded by the Private Physiotherapy Educational Foundation (PPEF), a charity that supports education and research to improve physiotherapy patients’ quality of life. 

Thanks to the ongoing financial backing, championing and support provided by Physio First, the project has flourished. The online national data collection was launched in 2014, and the Quality Assured Practitioner (QAP) and Clinic schemes (QAC) were launched in 2015 and 2016 respectively with the aim of improving care for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions and allowing practitioners and clinics to measure their quality against the national DfI database. 

The project draws on data gathered by equally passionate Physio First members – that’s around 700 private practice clinics who simply embed data collection into routine practice. 

The scheme has already lived up to its name. With over 115,000 completed datasets, the research outputs have been supporting clinicians and services to evidence their practice across a range of MSK conditions – whether that’s by using data to monitor patient progress, evaluate treatment effectiveness, and/or refine clinical decision-making as part of ongoing quality improvement. 

The data is also contributing to national intelligence, supporting research and advancing evidence-based physiotherapy. 

Firm footing

With its recent move to be run by researchers at Keele University, and further two-years funding from the PPEF and continued backing from Physio First, private practice physiotherapists will be able to continue evaluating the effectiveness of their interventions, profile their treatment provision, refine treatment plans, and identify areas requiring improvement.

The move to Keele, and being led by the university’s researchers, also means that the DfI dataset will align with Keele’s own national MSK audit and research database, led by Professor Jonathan Hill and Dr Roanna Burgess, which collates, analyses and reports real-time data for community and primary care services. 

Combining the data from private practice clinics with these NHS community and primary MSK healthcare services, will further improve the quality and consistency of primary care treatment for MSK conditions nationally.

Getting involved yourself in the data collection is not just about meeting the HCPC standards around evidencebased practice, it’s about the bigger picture – benchmarking against recognised standards, influencing the future of physiotherapy, engaging with and getting the optimum outcomes for patients. Why wouldn’t you join in?
 

Speaking about the move Katie Knapton, chair of Physio First, said, ‘This move is the biggest stride towards our mission to support and promote a community of quality private physiotherapists since our formation in 1952.’

She adds:  ‘For the very first time, we have real-time, standardised data for private and NHS physiotherapy practices. 

‘Every practice in the country will be able to view real-time data and benchmark themselves against a single national database drawn from all MSK providers.

‘The resources available will support clinicians and practice managers to share best practice, develop professional skills, implement new methods and, most importantly, improve outcomes for patients across the country.’ 

Plans for the future

Staying with the project and joining the team at Keele is Dr Shemane Murtagh who has worked on the project since 2012 and has led the project since 2019. Shemane will continue to lead the project at Keele alongside Professor Jonathan Hill. 

Shemane notes that while the research output to date has been consistently high in both quality and quantity, bringing the project to Keele last September with their larger, experienced staff team will put the project on an excellent footing. 

Shemane shares that: ‘One of the most exciting developments coming in the next two years is the integration of private and NHS-funded MSK services into a single national database. This will allow clinicians and researchers to compare data across different settings, ensuring better patient care and more informed decision-making.’ 

Stakeholder involvement

Shemane adds that the team is putting clinicians and patients at the heart of the project. She is excited to report that they had their first patient and public involvement event in December 2024 with plans to draw on a vibrant community of practice quarterly. 

‘We will be working closely with private MSK professionals to ensure the system provides health intelligence that is user-friendly, clinically relevant, and supports their real-world decision-making,’ she says.

On this, she shares plans for an upcoming data platform with easy to access data via personalised dashboards, made possible by becoming part of the Keele team as they combine expertise, networks and resources. 

Not only that, but the move has proved beneficial to students on both the pre-registration master’s and integrated master’s physiotherapy programmes at Keele. 

Dr Sara Winter, the DfI student project link at Keele, shares they are hoping to have at least six students each year analysing the data and producing published articles to disseminate the findings and further contributing to evidence-based practice. 

Real world application

It’s clear speaking to all three colleagues that data collection is never for its own sake, the project’s research is clinically relevant. 

In Sara’s words, 

we’re using this data – to inform what clinical choices physiotherapists make going forward. The outcomes that we get from this data is important for patient management. 

And Shemane adds: ‘By identifying trends, benchmarking services, and supporting quality improvement initiatives, we can help private physiotherapists refine treatments and improve patient outcomes across the country.

So, if you’re inspired – get your service involved, look out for, and act on, what’s being published and if you’re attending CSP Annual Conference this year, head over to the spotlight session led by Jonathan Hill and Shemane herself.