Manchester
Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research - University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is the largest, single-site university in the UK. Our primary care research is cross-disciplinary and broad in its focus, addressing the over-arching research question: ‘How can we safely manage and improve the health of an aging population in primary care?’
Capacity building is critical to our mission, and we are keen to support those interested in either qualitative or quantitative research methodologies. Applicants will join a network of researchers studying a broad range of issues affecting primary care. Our membership of the School for Primary Care Research brings together the Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research and the Drug Usage and Pharmacy Practice Research Group, reflecting the increasing need for inter-disciplinary collaboration in the delivery of primary care services.
Fellowship recipients will work within one or more of our research themes, benefiting from the support of other researchers working in the same area.
ABOUT THEIR RESEARCH
Health organisation, policy and economics (HOPE)
This interdisciplinary theme focuses upon research which investigates the supply, organisation, management and financing of health and social care services. Our expertise encompasses rigorous econometric analysis and a wide range of qualitative social scientific methods, including particular experience in the use of ethnographic approaches to understand organisational processes. We use mixed methods to study the important challenges facing health and care systems.
Further information: katherine.h.checkland@manchester.ac.uk
Quality and safety
This theme focuses on conducting innovative, needs-driven and applied research to improve quality of care and patient safety in primary care, particularly in general practice and community pharmacy as well as the interface of hospital and social care. We are an interdisciplinary team of researchers and clinicians in primary care, pharmacy, mental health, informatics, epidemiology and statistics. We develop and test the mechanisms for high quality, safer primary care systems, which are integrated with hospital and community settings.
Further information: maria.pangioti@manchester.ac.uk
Person-centred care and complex health needs
This theme focuses on ensuring patient and professional experience is at the centre of research to address health and healthcare needs. We have particular expertise in self-management, multimorbidity, mental health and health technology assessment. Our aims are: To conduct high quality research into the delivery, effectiveness and experience of care for patients with long-term conditions. To have a demonstrable impact on the delivery of care for long-term conditions nationally and internationally.
Further information: caroline.sanders@manchester.ac.uk
Health in a wider context
This theme focuses on how the wider context impacts on health and on health and care policy. Our activity includes: Epidemiology and time trends of chronic conditions, processes, health service utilisation, medication use; Inequalities and regional variation (across and within English and UK regions); Spatial analyses and mapping; Risk prediction modelling and machine learning approaches; and applying statistical and econometric methods to existing secondary data to investigate the determinants of health and ill-health.
Further information: e.kontopantelis@manchester.ac.uk
The Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety
The Centre undertakes high quality research in pharmacoepidemiolgoy and improving safety in medicines use. Particular research interests include the comparative safety and effectiveness of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology products, drug policy and risk management programme evaluation, and epidemiological methods using electronic healthcare databases.
Further information: darren.ashcroft@manchester.ac.uk
SUPPORT FOR EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS
Postdoctoral fellows work closely with a designated supervisor, who will usually be a senior member of staff within the department. They are encouraged to engage with the wider academic life of the department, including seminars, staff forum and opportunities to gain experience in supervision. There are opportunities to engage with research teams working on similar topic areas, and to build links with researchers across SPCR.
All of our postgraduate fellows have access to a wide range of training offered by the Centre for Academic and Researcher Developm#mce_temp_url#ent (CARD). This includes key transferable skills in areas such as commercial awareness, academic writing, project management, presentation skills and public engagement. This training equips our postgraduates with the tools to progress into influential positions within academia, industry and consultancy.
The emphasis is on enhancing skills critical to developing early-stage researchers, whether they relate to effective communication, disseminating research findings and project management skills, and to support Fellows in developing a strong research network both within Manchester and across SPCR departments.
The Centre also aims to support and promote the involvement of patients, the public and providers in health research, through our Patient and Public Involvement Group PRIMER.
CONTACT DETAILS
If you want to conduct your fellowship at the University of Manchester, but not sure whom to contact for support, do feel welcome to reach out to the people below:
Dr Tom Blakeman; tom.blakeman@manchester.ac.uk (SPCR Training lead)
Rita Chow; Rita.Chow@manchester.ac.uk (professional support)