Liz Thorp

PhD Student / Quality and Safety Research Nurse

Email: liz.thorp@bthft.nhs.uk
Tel: 01274 383945
Twitter: @thorp_liz

Background
Liz is a Nurse Research Fellow and is the Patient and Public Involvement Lead for the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Translational Research Centre, the NIHR PACT programme and the YQSR Group. Liz qualified as a Registered General Nurse from St Bartholomews’ College of Nursing and Midwifery with a Diploma in Nursing in 1990, and completed a BSc in healthcare at the Institute for Advanced Nursing Education at the RCN in 1996. Having worked across a variety of settings (Trauma and Orthopaedics, Renal, Day-surgery and Endoscopy services) in a clinical career spanning over 15 years, Liz took time away from nursing and taught English as a Foreign Language, at an International School in Mexico City for four years, returning to the UK in 2001.

After joining the YQSR group at the Bradford Institute for Health Research in 2010 she undertook an MSc in Health Sciences at the University of York. Liz’s research experience includes working on evaluation projects and as a co-collaborator on small scale research projects that have focused on improving the quality of care in the acute care setting.

In July 2018 Liz recently completed a PhD in Improvement Science, at the University of Leeds with Dr Peter Gardner, Dr Jane O’Hara, Dr Angela Grange and Professor Rebecca Lawton having been awarded a studentship by the Health Foundation. The thesis was concerned with understand further how, why and under what circumstance the quality improvement approach experience based co-design  approach ‘works’.

Liz has a background in adult nursing and has worked in a variety of healthcare settings including the NHS, private healthcare and the USA. Since 2011, Liz worked within the YQSR Group based at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and has been a co-collaborator for evaluation and research projects carried out within and for the Trust. Liz also facilitates the Yorkshire Quality and Safety Research Group’s patient panel that supports researchers with the development of research ideas and on-going projects being conducted.

Research interests
Liz has a diverse range of research interests. This includes the theory and evidence about quality patient and public involvement within health care and developing creative ways to involve and engage the public in purposeful research activities. Liz also has an interest in the theory and evidence surrounding quality improvement methodologies, tools and techniques and how individuals, organisations and systems can learn from QI efforts.