Research group

Health Workforce and Systems

Image of two surgeons performing surgery.

We research how healthcare is organised and delivered in a range of contexts, with the aim of achieving better outcomes for patients.

Part of Health science

About

Our focus is on the people and working conditions necessary to provide safe, high quality health services.

Evidence from our research helps shape healthcare policy and practice everywhere from hospitals to care homes. This is especially important now, when there is a global shortage of healthcare workers.

We look at how care processes, and the outcomes and cost-effectiveness of health services, are affected by:

  • workforce substitution
  • variation in staffing levels
  • how shift work is organised

We also study the methods used to calculate workforce requirements.

Our work explores healthcare delivery, and the experience of patients, their families and carers, in a variety of settings. These include hospitals, community services and general practice.

We also work with the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (Wessex) in its workforce and health systems research area.

People, projects and publications

People

Professor Bronagh Walsh

Professor

Research interests

  • Patterns of health service use in older people
  • Avoidable admissions in older people
  • Influence of frailty on health service use

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Bronagh

Dr Carole Fogg

Senior Research Fellow

Research interests

  • Use of health and social care ‘big data’ to characterise older people’s service use and outcomes, especially for people living with frailty or dementia.
  • Development and assessment of interventions to improve care and quality of life for older adults.
  • Methodological expertise: epidemiology, clinical trials of medicines and devices, feasibility studies, patient and public involvement and engagement with health services research.

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Carole

Dr Chiara Dall'ora

Associate Professor in Health Workforce

Research interests

  • Health workforce organisation
  • Shift work
  • Occupational health - burnout

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Chiara

Dr Christina Saville MSc, PhD, AFORS

Senior Research Fellow

Research interests

  • Safe staffing
  • Operational research techniques applied to healthcare
  • Health workforce
Connect with Christina

Dr Ezekwesiri Nwanosike

Research Fellow

Research interests

  • Health workforce
  • Health services research
  • Pharmacoepidemiology
Connect with Ezekwesiri

Dr Ivaylo Vassilev

Associate Professor

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Ivaylo

Dr Jaimie Ellis

Senior Research Fellow

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Jaimie

Professor Jane Ball FRCN PhD RN Bsc(Hons)

Professorial Fellow-Research
Connect with Jane

Miss Jasmine Snowden

Senior Teaching Fellow in MHN

Research interests

  • Reducing restrictive practices in mental health inpatient services. 
  • Understanding student experiences on placement. 
  • The use of simualtion in student nurses learning experience.
Connect with Jasmine

Dr Jeremy Jones

Principal Research Fellow
Connect with Jeremy