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Clinical Influencer, Cohort 2

Dr. Rob Letchford, Consultant Physiotherapist MSK Rehabilitation, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Rob’s roles include Consultant Physiotherapist MSK Rehabilitation, Cardiff and Vale, National Clinical Lead MSK Health, NHS Wales Executive and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Cardiff University.

Rob graduated from University of Wales College of Medicine with BSc (hons) in 1998 and specialised in MSK with a PGDip in 2003 and PhD in 2015.

He has held a broad portfolio of clinical rehabilitation work across the whole pathway from primary, urgent and planned care, delivered both in community and hospital settings. He has a passion and enthusiasm for delivering person centred and value based healthcare, supported by several years on a senior project manager role with Value in Health in Aneurin Bevan and more recently as clinical lead for benefits realisation in Cardiff and Vale therapies. After a short spell as clinical lead in the policy space within Welsh Government, Rob has been working in the national space under the NHS Executive Clinical Networks planning to influence future healthcare in Wales.

He is passionate about person centred and value based health and care and meeting the challenges of inequities in health and well-being through strategic approaches to data informed population health.

The Cardiff and Vale Rehabilitation model was developed by a clinical leadership group during the COVID-19 pandemic and has created a shift in thinking and delivery of rehabilitation services. By applying value based and co-production methods Cardiff and Vale Rehabilitation have been able to reallocate resources to deliver higher quality and higher value care that delivers outcomes that matter to the people participating. The model and team has been awarded four Advancing Healthcare Awards, in Excellence in Rehabilitation (Wales, 2022 and 2023), Value Based Healthcare (UK 2023), and overall winner (Wales 2022).