We research how healthcare is organised and delivered in a range of contexts, with the aim of achieving better outcomes for patients.
At the core of effective healthcare delivery and optimal patient care lies a well organised and healthy workforce.
We investigate how healthcare teams can be structured and supported to deliver better outcomes for both patients and staff—particularly crucial in today's global healthcare worker shortage.
We explore three interconnected areas:
We develop models and tools to predict how many nurses are needed at the unit and service level, helping healthcare organisations using their valuable human resources more efficiently. These models are informed by our groundbreaking research on safe staffing, with a collection of studies exploring associations between staffing configurations (size, skill mix, shift patterns) and outcomes for patients, staff and the organisation.
Acknowledging that there is no patient safety without staff wellbeing, we look at ways to create health systems that prioritise their staff wellbeing, creating work environments where people want to join and stay.
We consider how professional values and workplace culture influence how teams work best together.
Our interdisciplinary team brings together expertise from nursing, midwifery, health services research, computer sciences, sociology, economics, psychology, mathematics, and operational research.
This diversity allows us to apply both quantitative and qualitative methods, including:
Our findings directly inform healthcare practice across various settings, including:
Our work has shaped the NHS Long Term Workforce plan, and our findings motivated change by providing core evidence for:
