NIHR Clinical Lectureship Personal experiences Dr Jane Martindale PhD, BA, Grad Dip Phys Associate NHS R and D North West

1. NIHR Clinical
Lectureship
Personal experiences
Dr Jane Martindale
PhD, BA, Grad Dip Phys
Associate NHS R and D North West
your hospitals, your health, our priorityST05_Mar12

2. Life after PhD
• Ankylosing Spondylitis Special Interest Group North
West (ASSIGNw)
• Group of 35 physiotherapists from 15 NHS Trusts in
the North West of England
• Support network promoting and sharing best
practice for AS management
• Benchmark practice
What do I do now?

3. NIHR Clinical Lectureship
My aims:
Three components:
1. Undertaking substantive research study
‘The challenges of living with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) throughout
the life course’
2. Development of advanced clinical skills
3. Research capacity building:
 Personal
 Organisational
 Regional

4. Support during my NIHR Clinical
Lectureship
• Supervisory team
• Lancaster University Medical
School
• Annual conference for
trainees
• Faculty – networking
opportunities – helping to
guide others
• Mentorship programme

5. Example of milestones
Manage Phase 1 study
• Continue to send out annual questionnaires, code data
Disseminate findings from Phase 1 Qualitative study (interviews)
• Submit papers and abstracts to conferences
• Begin mixed methods analysis and disseminate findings
Disseminate findings from focus groups for Phase 2
• Writing papers and submitting papers for publication.
On going and will be for a long time!
Research - My PhD2

6. The ultimate aim
Clinical role moving away from Therapy into
rheumatology with 4 morning clinics - 2 new
patient and 2 follow up clinics
2. Development of advanced clinical
skills
The reality
Stayed in Therapy as
Extended Scope Physiotherapist and
Therapy Research Lead

7. Building research capacity
• Leadership at national level to share clinically
relevant outcomes
• Building links between academia and NHS
(collaboration) Lancaster Health Hub projects
• ASSIGNw network
– Participation in research delivery
– Outcomes with clinical relevance
– Transferring knowledge into practice

8. Within the Trust
• Set up and continue to promote the Patient and Public
Involvement Group. Involved in several grant
applications and work on a study with Aberdeen
University. Helped with dissemination document for
Ageing study and 2020 Health report
• Successfully developed an audit training programme for
Therapists and consequently a developing audit culture.
• Fully committed to the Quality Improvement Committee
for Therapy promoting audit and research
Research capacity building

9. Within the Trust
 Working with R & D committee and Clinical Trials
Department
 ARUK funded UK Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and
Work – supervision of a PhD student at Lancaster
University
 Co-applicant with Dr Kirstie Haywood (Warwick
University) to evaluate fatigue and AS to improve
assessment – x 2 applications – unsuccessful
3rd successfully funded PhD student and will be involved
throughout the project
Research capacity building

10.  Work with the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society –
conferences and Parliament.
 Member of Arthritis Research UK Clinical Studies Group
for Spondyloarthropathies - Contributed to an Anglo-
Dutch round Table ARUK Workshop on research
priorities
 Committee member of AStretch – physiotherapy network
that steers the management and improves
understanding of AS in UK
 Involved in the design of a national portfolio study
supported by the British Society of Rheumatology – the
BSRBR-AS study – now recruiting successfully
National profile

11. Opportunities
• Links with Pharma through
AStretch and NASS –
working on nationally
available educational
resources
• ‘Meeting in a Box’ a
primary care back pain
initiative – delivering
courses and educational
resources to raise
awareness of diagnosis to
GPs and AHPs

12. Grant applications
• Commenced a grant application to RfPB to continue to
build on the normative values for the BASMI and the
production of centile charts. BUT interest from the very
strong European ASAS group who were also pursuing
this
• Currently writing an expression of interest bid to ARUK
with the ASSIGNw group and the university of Cumbria
looking at potential predictors of falling in the AS
population

13. Invited speaker at national conferences
• British Health Professionals in Rheumatology conference -
‘Importance of the Biopsychosocial approach to assessment in AS/axial
SpA’ and also at the at the 7th New Perspectives in Research and
Management in AS ‘The journey to diagnosis in AS/Axial SpA. The
impact of delay’.
Poster presentations at American College of Rheumatology
Conference - San Diego
•‘Experiences of older people living with Ankylosing Spondlitis’
•‘The journey to diagnosis in AS/Axial SpA – the psychological impact
of delay’.
Opportunities

14. • Not achieving recruitment goals reapplying to
Ethics for a substantial amendment.
• Failing to set up a research network (as yet) in
the Trust – naivety of Culture
• Not having the self belief and confidence that I
could achieve all of my objectives.
• Learning to feel comfortable whilst living in 2
worlds
• Unsuccessful grant applications
Pain

15. • Working as a CI on a study with Portfolio status and
learning what this entails and how to go about this.
• Understanding the psychological impact of the delay on
diagnosis and being able to add this to the knowledge
base in a qualitative methodology.
• The whole process of being trusted to host an NIHR
Internship post.
• Learning that I am a leader with the self knowledge but
more importantly the belief that I can inspire and that I
can be a role model
Joy

16. • Impact - Psychological status is being recognised
as important facet of assessment and treatment of
our patients – ‘Biopsychosocial’
• Successfully implementing an awareness of
outcome measures within routine clinical
assessment at WWL and inspiring an audit culture
• Developing a network of nationally and
internationally renowned experts in the field of AS
and realising that I am also regarded as an
‘expert’!
Joy

17. Thank you