Kate Grafton (pictured above), head of the School of Health and Social Care and professor of AHP education at the University of Lincoln, is relishing being part of a research project with a remit, among other objectives, to improve patients’ ‘timely access to high-quality physiotherapy’.

Professor Grafton – along with George Peat, director of the Centre for Applied Health and Social Care Research and professor of clinical epidemiology at Sheffield Hallam University – is drawing on her physiotherapy background to contribute to a high-profile multi-million-pound research project.

The five-year project, details of which featured in a PhysioUpdate news article earlier this month, was commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Professors Grafton and Peate are co-investigators in the Allied Health Professions (AHPs) Workforce Research Partnership (WRP), which is focusing on ‘supporting a sustainable and effective AHPs workforce in rural and coastal regions and in deprived urban areas’.

One of five linked research projects unveiled by the NIHR last month, the AHP WRP is led by chief investigator Professor Julie Nightingale, who is also based at Sheffield Hallam University.

An impressive CV

Professor Grafton has amassed an impressive CV since qualifying at the Nottingham School of Physiotherapy in 1988, after which she worked for more than a decade in the NHS in Sheffield. She specialised in the management of musculoskeletal (MSK) pain and dysfunction, gaining clinical experience that laid the foundation for her academic endeavours.

‘This collaboration between researchers, healthcare providers, and patients will not only enhance our understanding of recruitment and retention challenges but also inform evidence-based strategies to ensure our profession can thrive where it’s needed most’ [Kate Grafton]

Professor Grafton’s academic career initially blossomed at Sheffield Hallam University, where, in 1999, she started in a clinical academic role in a joint appointment with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She went on to gain an MSc in manipulative therapy from Coventry University in 2001 and a professional doctorate at Sheffield Hallam in 2013.

In her current role at the University of Lincoln, Kate oversees a wide-ranging portfolio of educational and research initiatives. Her leadership approach is said to be one that welcomes external partnerships, employer engagement and community collaboration.

Grasping a ‘unique opportunity’: Professor Grafton speaks to PhysioUpdate

What does her participation in the AHP WRP mean to Professor Grafton? ‘My appointment represents a unique opportunity to contribute to groundbreaking research that directly addresses critical staffing challenges facing the physiotherapy and other allied health professions,’ Professor Grafton told PhysioUpdate.

‘This work will bring together insights and experiences from across the professions to help shape innovative workforce solutions that could transform patient care delivery across rural, coastal, and underserved communities.

‘This collaboration between researchers, healthcare providers, and patients will not only enhance our understanding of recruitment and retention challenges but also to inform evidence-based strategies to ensure our profession can thrive where it’s needed most and be effectively positioned to address the health and care delivery challenges amongst the diverse communities we serve.

Professor Grafton added: ‘Ultimately, this research partnership aims to improve health outcomes for patients by ensuring timely access to high-quality physiotherapy and other integrated health services regardless of geographic location, thereby reducing health inequalities and enhancing quality of life across the broader population.’

In more than two decades at Sheffield Hallam, Professor Grafton’s roles ranged from being head of International for the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing and deputy head of the Department of AHPs. More recently, she has served as vice chair of the Council for Allied Health Professions Research Strategy Group and was involved in shaping the AHPs’ research and innovation strategy for England.

To find out more about Kate Grafton, see: https://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/kgrafton

George Peat: a proud physiotherapist

George Peat graduated in physiotherapy at Queen Margaret College University in Edinburgh in 1991. As the decade unfolded, he swiftly gained an MSc in public health sciences at the University of Edinburgh, before completing a PhD in rheumatology at the University of Manchester in 1998.

Professor Peat joined Sheffield Hallam University in 2022 as professor of Clinical Epidemiology, which aims to produce ideas, evidence and knowledge for future health and social care needs. Significantly, Professor Peat’s staff profile begins with the words: ‘I am a Chartered Physiotherapist …’

Professor Peat joined Sheffield Hallam University in 2022 as professor of Clinical Epidemiology, which aims to produce ideas, evidence and knowledge for future health and social care needs.

Significantly, Professor Peat’s staff profile (see link below), begins with the words: ‘I am a Chartered Physiotherapist …’ As director of the interdisciplinary Centre for Applied Health and Social Care Research , which draws researchers together from across the School of Health and Social Care (nursing and midwifery, AHPs, social work, social care and community studies), he says his specific interests are clinical, epidemiologic and data-intensive research to understand and improve musculoskeletal health and care – particularly osteoarthritis.

A prolific academic author

Before moving to Sheffield Hallam, Professor Peat worked at the renowned Arthritis Research UK/Versus Arthritis national Primary Care Centre of Excellence at Keele University, where he designed and conducted clinical, epidemiologic and data-intensive research to understand and improve MSK health and care. His special interest is the application of epidemiologic methods to advance the prevention and management of osteoarthritis and its effects on individuals, populations and health systems.

Professor Peat has published more than 180 original research articles, attracting more than £12 million in external research income since 2012 from a variety of funding bodies.

Professor Peat adds: ‘I am committed to, and have a strong track record in, creating opportunities and supporting career progression for such diverse research teams, particularly for those from NMAHP [nursing, midwifery and AHPs],  social care, and methodology backgrounds.’
 

To find out more about Professor Peat, see: https://www.shu.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/staff-profiles/george-peat#firstSection

To read PhysioUpdate’s news article on thr NIHR-funded study, see: https://physioupdate.co.uk/physiotherapists-kate-grafton-and-george-peat-join-research-study-with-remit-to-make-the-14-ahps-more-sustainable-and-effective/