MPFT is working in partnership with the Impact Accelerator Unit at Keele University to support and develop Allied Health Professional 'Evidence into Practice Groups'. Our multidisciplinary groups have a focus on finding the best evidence to assist the care of patients with musculoskeletal disease across Staffordshire. Clinicians, librarians, academics and more recently, patient partners have been attending the group meetings.
The group uses a method called 'Critically Appraised Topics' or CATs for short. Due to this, many of us know the groups locally as the CAT groups.
The aim of the group is to identify the very best published evidence to solve clinical dilemmas that are brought to the meeting by the clinicians. Our health librarians search the literature, the group reviews the quality of the evidence and produces a recommendation for practice. Rapid changes to practice can occur as clinical leaders are part of the group.
Where there is no evidence to answer the specific clinical question, researchers are then aware of gaps in the evidence for future projects. Our Group won the British Society of Rheumatology 'Outstanding Clinical Practice' Award in 2016, has presented the model at national and international conferences and has published its work.
Please follow this link to see all the clinical questions that have been answered by the groups.
The 2021 Critically Appraised Topic newsletter from Keele is now available here.
For further information please contact kay.stevenson@mpft.nhs.uk
