Claire Burton

Biography

Claire started her undergraduate medical training (MBChB) at the University of Manchester in 2000 and in 2005 completed her clinical training with Honours, as part of the first cohort of medical students at Keele University. Claire has worked in North Staffordshire ever since. She started her General Practitioner (GP) training on the North Staffordshire Vocational Training Scheme in 2007 and completed this training in 2011. During training she was awarded the Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (DRCOG). She was also funded by the West Midlands Deanery to extend her training in order to complete the Masters of Medical Science at Keele University. Claire was funded by an NIHR In-Practice Fellowship to commence her doctoral studies in 2013. She was then funded by a GP Career Progression Fellowship from the SPCR to complete her doctoral studies and build her research portfolio. She was awarded her PhD in 2020 and now has an NIHR Clinical Lectureship. Claire also works as a Salaried GP at Silverdale & Ryecroft Practice, North Staffordshire.

Research and scholarship

Claire’s MMedSci was a case-controlstudy, using routinely collected data to investigate associations between morbidity and a future dementia diagnosis. Claire’s PhD thesis was entitled “The epidemiology, prognosis and management of carpal tunnel syndrome in primary care.” The thesis included a time series analysis and a prognosis study using CPRD data, and an exploratory sub-group analysis using data from INSTINCTS, a Versus Arthritis funded randomised clinical trial, which Claire played an active role in over the course of her PhD. During her PhD Claire also developed her interest in the epidemiology and prognosis of musculoskeletal medicine, supporting an RfPB funded study exploring the impact of wrist fracture on frailty trajectories (FILTER).

Claire is now joint lead applicant on a FOREUM (Foundation for Research in Rhuematology) funded study exploring the impact of pandemic practice on patients presenting in with musculoskeletal disorders in primary care and a programme of studies defining and exploring the impact of long-term COVID-19 on children and young people, funded by the SPCR and the WM CRN. Claire also provides clinical input into other studies including the PGfAR funded PANDA-S, which seeks to provide new evidence on the prognosis and management of shoulder pain, and DMAPP, which seeks to develop and test a digital self-guided intervention for the management of upper limb pain.  

Teaching

Claire supports the supervision of a Versus Arthritis funded student using CPRD to describe the prognosis of patients with frozen shoulder.
Claire also supervises, mentors, and teaches medical students and Foundation Trainees.

Further information

Claire is a member of the School for Primary, Community and Social Care Student Ethics Committee and is a member of the panel of the West Midlands RfPB Committee.