PhD Students

Background

Gail Is a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse who has worked in Bradford community nursing across all age groups and demographics . Gail has most recently worked with the NIHR in their ARC research support group and currently works one day a week with The Born in Bradford Age of Wonder Research team to maintain her involvement and expertise in public health and research.

PhD Overview

The NHS is increasingly introducing virtual wards, many of which are digitally enabled, to support people in the place they call home. Virtual wards allow patients to get the care they need more conveniently at home, rather than being admitted to an acute hospital environment. For many patients this can be beneficial allowing them to maintain independence, social contacts and feel secure in their own environment. However, patient safety in terms of hospital inpatient care remains a challenging area to address and now  safety in the context of individual patients home appears largely unexplored.

The hospital setting offers control of variables that are for the most part, not possible to control in the community. Given that, the question arises about whether it is possible to ensure patient safety for different groups outside of the hospital setting. Gail aims to explore the safety equity of virtual wards, investigating how social setting, and the ability and education of the patients and those around them may influence their safety.

Research interests

Patient safety, equity, public health, community care, care pathways and transitions.

Shire, K, Newsham, A, Rahman, A, Mason, D, Ryan, D, Lawlor, DA, Opio-Te G, et al 2024, ‘Born in Bradford’s Age of Wonder cohort: protocol for adolescent data collection’, Wellcome Open Research, vol. 9, 32.

Johnson J. Mitchinson L. Parmar M. Opio-te G. Serrant L. & Grange A. (2021) Do Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic nurses and midwives experience a career delay? A cross-sectional survey investigating career progression barriers. Contemporary Nurse Vol. 57(1-2) 99-112

Johnson J. Cameron L. Mitchinson L. Parmar M. Opio-te G. Louch G & Grange A. (2019) An investigation into the relationship between bullying, discrimination, burnout and patient safety in nurses and midwives: Is burnout a mediator? Journal of Research in Nursing Vol 24(8) 604 – 619

Background

My background is in Nursing, and my educational background spans Public Health and Advanced Clinical Practice. I have a special interest in the care of older persons.

PhD Overview

My PhD research will explore the safety, benefits and risks of virtual wards. I hope to understand and establish evidence for this initiative to enhance its sustainability and improve standards of care.

Research interests

Health systems and policies.

Background
Olivia graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science from De Montfort University, followed by an MRC awarded scholarship for an MRes in Inflammation: Cellular and Vascular Aspects. During both degrees Olivia became particularly interested in research communication with patient, public and healthcare staff and equity in health research, which lead to a five-year career as a Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Specialist within NHS research.

She is currently conducting a PhD research project at the University of Leeds, funded by NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Translational Research Centre within the Workplace Engagement and Wellbeing theme.

Olivia works one day a week as a PPIE Research Fellow within the Partners at Care Transitions research programme to maintain her involvement expertise and sustain relationships.

PhD overview
Despite an increasingly diverse NHS workforce, workplace mistreatment reported in the NHS Staff Surveys remains persistent for racial and ethnic minority healthcare staff. In addition, both experience of, and observation of incivility in healthcare has been reported to have an effect on the wellbeing of the individual, wider team performance and ultimately staff experience has been shown to be associated with patient care.

Olivia aims to explore how racial and ethnic minority healthcare workers conceptualise, perceive, experience and attribute rude and disrespectful behaviour at work (often described as incivility) from both colleagues and patients, the contextual factors, triggers and potential consequences/ implications for patient care. The project aims to inform potential avenues for an intervention to improve the experience of racial and ethnic minority healthcare staff in the NHS.

Research interests
Incivility, negative workplace behaviours, equity, healthcare staff wellbeing, patient care

Publications
Hague, C., Foran, B., Hall, E., Guild, S., Joseph, O., Moule, R., Nutting, C., Parsons, S., Prestwich, R., Slevin, N. and West, C., (2018). Patient Involvement in the Design of a Phase III Trial Comparing Intensity-modulated Proton Therapy and Intensity-modulated Radiotherapy for Oropharyngeal Cancer. Clinical Oncology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clon.2018.01.018

Holmes, L., Cresswell, K., Williams, S., Parsons, S., Keane, A., Wilson, C., Islam, S., Joseph, O., Miah, J., Robinson, E., & Starling, B. (2019). Innovating public engagement and patient involvement through strategic collaboration and practice. Research Involvement and Engagement, 5(1), 30. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-019-0160-4

Nicholas, O. J., Joseph, O., Keane, A., Cleary, K., Campbell, S. H., Gwynne, S. H., Crosby, T., Radhakrishna, G., & Hawkins, M. A. (2020). Patient and Public Involvement Refines the Design of ProtOeus: A Proposed Phase II Trial of Proton Beam Therapy in Oesophageal Cancer. The Patient – Patient-Centered Outcomes Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40271-020-00487-8

Background
Daniel graduated from Durham University with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Psychology (2019). After which, he remained in Durham for another year, receiving a distinction in MSc Cognitive Neuroscience (2020). Daniel is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Leeds, funded by NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Translational Research Centre.

PhD overview
The project aims to identify, understand, and measure stressors associated with the in-hospital environment. This will be accomplished by exploring factors such as susceptibility to these stressors, and their impact on patient outcomes (i.e., post-hospital syndrome). The PhD will conclude by producing a tool to assess in-hospital stress; designed and evaluated by Daniel.

Research interest
Patient safety; patient outcomes (particularly, post-hospital syndrome); in-hospital stress.

Publications
None as of yet.

Background:

Debbie qualified as a Nurse in 1998 and has spent most of her clinical career working within Critical Care at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. Debbie completed a B. Med Sci in Critical Care Nursing in 2004.

Since 2008, Debbie has worked at Sheffield Hallam University, most recently as a Principal Lecturer in Adult Nursing. Debbie completed an MSc in Healthcare Education in 2016. Whilst working within education Debbie has focused upon enhancing patient safety, human factors, and quality improvement within pre and post registration nurse education.

During her lecturing career, Debbie has enjoyed a secondment with the Yorkshire and Humber Improvement Academy which allowed her to work with the team to support regional work on Human Factors education and collaborated on a Health Foundation funded safety project: The measurement and monitoring of safety framework (Vincent, 2013)

Debbie is currently undertaking a PhD with the University of Leeds funded by THIS Institute.

PhD Overview:  

Debbie’s PhD is concerned with exploring how and in what circumstances a flexible approach to safety management supports safety. The work aims to understand how, when and if ‘work arounds’ contribute to safe care and will explore the impact of using Safety II approaches within healthcare.

Initially a scoping review will be used to map the when, why and what type of standards are work round within healthcare. A focused ethnography within a range of different healthcare settings with then be conducted to observe adherence to or deviation from specified standards. This data will then be used to inform a series of stakeholder workshops to try and establish safe parameters for when workarounds could be used. The safe parameters (work as done) will then be tested against the exemplar standard (work as imagined) in a simulated environment to explore the impact on pre-determined outcomes such as efficiency and safety.

Research Interests:

Patient Safety, Human Factors, Critical Care

Publications:

The Introduction of “Safety Science” into an                                                                  

Undergraduate Nursing Programme at a Large University 

in the United Kingdom 

Nick White, Deborah Clark, Wayne Robson, Robin Lewis

Int. J. Nurs. Educ. Scholarsh. 2016; 13(1): 1–8

Teaching patient safety and human factors in undergraduate nursing                        

curricula in England: a pilot survey

Wayne Robson, Debbie Clark, David Pinnock, Nick White and Bryn Baxendale

British Journal of Nursing, 2013, Vol 22, No 17

Background:

Qandeel graduated from the University of Leeds with a BSc (Hons) in Psychology in 2018. After working in inpatient mental health services for some time, Qandeel returned to Leeds to study MSc Psychological Approaches to Health (2021). Qandeel is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Leeds, funded by NIHR.

PhD overview:

The project will explore clinical and non-clinical care practices patients consider to be low-value. In particular, the research will focus on care in mental health services. Mixed methods will be used to identify targets for de-implementation and an intervention will be developed alongside patients to reduce, replace, or stop low-value practices.

Research interests

Patient safety, low-value care, mental health care.

Background

Megan Smith is a second year PhD student at the University of Leeds, funded by NIHR Yorkshire & Humber Applied Research Collaboration. Prior to this,  Megan completed her integrated master’s degree (MSci) in Psychology at the University of York between 2018-2022.

PhD overview

Megan’s PhD investigates smoking cessation within individuals with Severe Mental Illness (SMI), as this group have a lower life expectancy than the general population, with smoking being one of the most modifiable risk factors. Standard smoking cessation guidance is often ineffective within the SMI population, yet evidence suggests these individuals are just as capable of quitting with appropriate support.

Megan aims to use the positive deviance approach to identify high performing smoking cessation practices, using this to develop a ‘gold standard’ for treatment within the SMI population. Megan hopes for this to inform healthcare staff and patient’s knowledge of appropriate and effective services, and influence policy in a way which improves quality of life and life expectancy for patients with SMI.

Research interests

• Health psychology
• Smoking cessation
• Mental health
• Positive deviance
• Improvement science
• Applied psychology

Background:

PhD overview:

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PhD overview:

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PhD overview:

Background

Hannah is currently a PhD student with the PSRC and the School of Healthcare at the University of Leeds. Hannah holds a BA (Hons) in Social and Political Sciences with Philosophy from the University of York.

Hannah’s background is in mental health service quality improvement, with a particular focus on patient and public involvement and co-production relating to service improvement and patient safety. 

PhD overview

Hannah’s PhD seeks to identify opportunities for systemic improvements which can improve the safe and effective management of self-harm in adult inpatient mental health settings. It focuses on the organisational perspective, rather than a focus on therapeutic approaches, which is under-researched and presents a strong opportunity for improvement. 

Research interests

Patient safety in mental health settings, mental health policy, patient and public involvement, co-production

Participation in Children and Young People’s Mental Health: An Essen (routledge.com)

Background:

Fatima is an experienced Elderly Care Specialist Pharmacist who previously worked at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust. While there, she led quality improvement projects that motivated her to pursue further research to support elderly populations. Fatima is now a PhD student funded by the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Research Collaboration.

Background:

Background

Brook graduated with from the University of York with a BA (Hons) in Philosophy and Linguistics and subsequently an MA in Applied Ethics. Brook became a Knowledge Transfer Associate with the Greater Manchester Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (GM CLAHRC) in 2009, supporting primary care professionals to implement NICE guidance and put research into practice through improvement collaboratives. Brook then joined Aqua, an NHS organisation that supports quality and safety improvement for health and care services. She worked as an Improvement Facilitator for shared decision making and self-management support. She completed her PGCert in Innovation and Improvements Science at Lancaster University in 2015 and then became a Senior Improvement Advisor, delivering training and facilitating quality improvement projects focused on personalised care and safety, developing an interest in human factors and how it can be applied to different quality challenges.

She completed her MSc in Human Factors and Ergonomics at Loughborough University in 2023, and having worked with a number of teams to improve their understanding and application of human factors in practice is a Technical Member of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (TechCIEHF). Brook is also an Advanced Appreciative Inquiry Practitioner and has a particular interest in working with frontline staff to make improvements based on identifying and developing the existing strengths and positive skills of teams.

Brook is now a PhD student funded by the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Research Collaboration, working with the Safer Systems, Cultures and Practices theme.

PhD overview

Brook’s PhD is exploring safety management systems and how learning from other industries may support safety improvement in healthcare

Research interests

Human factors, patient safety and quality, personalised care, human factors, appreciative inquiry.

Waterman, H., Boaden, R., Burey, L., Howells, B., Harvey, G., Humphreys, J., Rothwell, K. and Spence, M., 2015. Facilitating large-scale implementation of evidence based health care: insider accounts from a co-operative inquiry. BMC health services research, 15(1), pp.1-13. (https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-015-0722-6