Roanna Burgess

Biography

Dr Roanna Burgess is an Early Career Researcher, although has an established Senior NHS Clinical role as a Consultant Physiotherapist and Musculoskeletal (MSK) Service Lead for Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust. Roanna is a co-CI (with Prof Hill) on the National MSK Audit (which will yield the National Community and Primary Care MSK Audit and Research Database), has published recommendations around MSK benchmarking, core MSK outcome sets and case-mix adjustment models for MSK data. She also sits on the National MSK Data Group and is a Clinical Champion for Versus Arthritis.

Research and scholarship

Dr Roanna Burgess is an accomplished early career clinical academic researcher. Her significant achievements include:

1) PhD and Research Focus: Dr Burgess completed her PhD in 2022 with a thesis entitled 'Benchmarking community and primary care musculoskeletal services: Developing recommendations using evidence synthesis, consensus methods, and secondary data analysis.' In the course of her doctoral research, she undertook several critical tasks which included:

• Development of a Case-Mix Adjustment Model: Dr Burgess developed and tested a case-mix adjustment model within the context of community and primary care musculoskeletal services. This model seeks to ensure fair and accurate comparisons of healthcare outcomes across different patient populations, a crucial component for effective benchmarking.
• Core Outcome Set Creation: She led the development of a core outcome set for routine collection in MSK services. This standardised set of outcomes is vital for consistent and comprehensive evaluation of MSK care that allows for meaningful comparisons.
• Recommendations for Benchmarking: Dr Burgess's research resulted in recommendations for benchmarking MSK services, a crucial foundation for the establishment of a national MSK audit.

2) Grant Funding for the National MSK Audit: Following her PhD, Dr Burgess secured funding from Pfizer Ltd to establish the infrastructure and obtain ethical approvals for a national MSK audit and research database focused on community and primary care settings, demonstrating her ability to secure funding for critical research initiatives. Subsequently, she received additional financial support from the British Society for Rheumatology to onboard services and support data collection for the same project.

3) Impact and Policy Influence: Dr Burgess's work has significant policy implications and potential to shape healthcare at a national level. Her research findings and detailed protocol for the national MSK audit have recently been presented to the Department of Health and Social Care, contributing to discussions surrounding the Major Conditions Strategy. The national audit data when analysed is poised to inform and shape policy decisions by providing valuable health intelligence on the variation in MSK care and outcomes.

Dr Roanna Burgess is committed to improving MSK services, and to driving positive changes in healthcare policy and service provision.

Collaborations and grants awards

Grant Awards
Pfizer Ltd: National Musculoskeletal Audit: Phase 1 - Infrastructure
British Society of Rheumatology (BSR): National Musculoskeletal Audit and Research Database: Phase 2 - Data Collection