National Community Musculoskeletal Databases (NHS and Private)

A showcase lecture delivered as part of Midlands Rehab Month.

Professor Jonathan Hill (Keele University) and the National Community MSK Databases Team, a partnership spanning NHS and private physiotherapy services, bring a rare, system-level perspective to musculoskeletal care in the Midlands. Their research is seeking to underpin the UK’s first integrated Learning Health System for MSK physiotherapy, combining routine outcomes, experience data and service metrics to shine a light on quality, equity and unwarranted variation in care. With 52 NHS providers already registered to share data, over 1,000 private clinics aligned, and more than 190,000 patients contributing to date, the team will reveal what national, real-world evidence can do for everyday MSK care.

In this talk, the speakers will unpack how their vision for a tiered Learning Health System, co-designed with patients, clinicians and commissioners, will turn data into action: from national benchmarks and equity-aware dashboards to practical toolkits that help services improve locally. They will explore how case-mix-adjusted outcomes (e.g., MSK-HQ), patient experience, treatment patterns and waiting-time intelligence can be combined to guide decision-making, support poor performing services, and focus improvement where it matters most.

Drawing on early national analyses the team will reflect on what the data are teaching us so far: where rehabilitation is working well, where access and outcomes remain unequal, and how Communities of Practice can accelerate change across different service models. They will also outline the next frontier: linking NHS and private datasets at scale, extending to paediatric MSK services, and building a researcher hub to power ongoing innovation.

Showcased through #MidlandsRehabMonth, this lecture also forms part of a wider programme to embed evidence-driven improvement in UK MSK services, aligned with CSP priorities and the NHS Community MSK GIRFT workstream, and delivered with national partners including Physio First. Together, these efforts aim to make high-quality physiotherapy more equitable, interpretable and actionable, so that data collected in everyday care directly improves the care people receive.

This lecture is open to physiotherapists and MSK clinicians, service leads and commissioners (ICBs), GPs, policy-makers, researchers and data analysts, private providers, patient advocates, and anyone keen to use routine data to improve MSK care.