Victoria Welsh

Biography

Victoria is an academic GP, working in clinical practice and at Keele University. Victoria completed the first Academic Foundation Year 2 rotation in the West Midlands Deanery in 2006-07 and went on to an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship in General Practice from 2007-2011 where she completed an MPhil using qualitative methodology to explore the feasibility of extending the authority to certify sickness absence beyond the medical profession and obtained her Certificate of Completion of Training in General Practice.

Victoria was successfully awarded an NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship in 2011, and undertook a quantitative research project which investigated the relationship between pain and falls in older people. Her PhD was completed in 2017 and Victoria went on to an NIHR Clinical Lectureship in General Practice.

Research and scholarship

Victoria’s primary research interest is pain in the oldest old population. In addition, Victoria is joint chief investigator on two studies: the SNIPE study (exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care of people with rheumatic musculoskeletal disorders in primary care, funded by Foundation for Research in Rheumatology) and SPLaT-19 (Symptom patterns and life with long-term COVID-19 in children and young people, funded by the NIHR SPCR).

Victoria has a mixed methods background, having published in quantitative, qualitative and systematic review methodologies including the use of linked databases, survey data and semi-structured interview techniques.
Victoria is an external member of the Advisory Group for NIHR-funded studies including investigations of Long-COVID and pain management for older people living with frailty.

Victoria reviews for the NIHR Reviewer Development Scheme, and reviews for journals including British Journal of General Practice, Age and Ageing, and European Journal of General Practice. Victoria is a member of the NIHR Long Covid in Children expert group and has been an invited Specialist Committee Member in the development of the NICE Quality Standard for Falls Prevention.5 Aligned to an interest in healthcare measures, Victoria is also a Standing Committee Member of the NICE Indicator Advisory Committee.

Teaching

During her academic time, Victoria supervises Academic Foundation Year 2 trainees, supports PhD students, and teaches medical students. Victoria is joint deputy lead for the MSK Faculty Research Theme group and leads the MMedSci Dissertation module where she supervises post-graduate students from multi-disciplinary backgrounds.