Developing and refining a conceptual model for de-implementing low-value safety practices

Do you want to improve the quality and safety of care in the NHS? Do you want to do cutting-edge research with interdisciplinary supervisors and develop a career as a safety scientist? If so, this studentship opportunity will appeal to you.

A full scholarship is available in the School of Psychology. This fully funded PhD scholarship is an exciting opportunity to pursue postgraduate research in patient safety and implementation science, with an emphasis on the development and application of theory to reducing low-value safety activities/practices in healthcare.

We are inviting applications for prospective postgraduate researchers who wish to commence study for a PhD (October 24-March 25). This studentship will be hosted in the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Research Collaboration (PSRC).

The award is open to full-time candidates (UK only) who meet the eligibility.

Patient safety remains a persistent worldwide issue across healthcare, despite an explicit policy, practice and research focus since the turn of the century. Over the last 20-30 years, risk management in healthcare has led to the accumulation of policies, rules and safety practices, not all of which are evidence based and which, together, are argued to represent safety clutter (Rae et al., 2018). There have been attempts to identify this clutter and to develop theoretically informed interventions to help to remove, reduce, replace or restrict (Norton and Chambers, 2020) ‘low-value’ safety practices (Halligan et al., 2020; Halligan et al 2023). However, this is challenging without an understanding of which interventions might be most effective and why and how these might change over time.

The aim of this PhD will be to address this gap. This PhD studentship will likely involve a systematic review and/or meta-analysis of studies within and beyond healthcare that have tried to understand/de-implement policies, rules, safety practices and processes and to collate this information to answer questions about what are the fundamental barriers and enablers (behavioural, team, professional, organisational and potentially societal) that impact attempts at de-implementation. Together with a wider review of the existing theoretical literature on reducing or stopping behaviour that exists in other contexts (e.g. behavioural and social science) and related concepts in healthcare, a working conceptual model for de-cluttering safety practices will be developed.

Working with the wider PSRC team, the student will develop and modify the model through application (through data collection and/or data analysis) to at least two test cases of de-implementation in healthcare services (e.g. reducing double-checking of medicines and risk assessments). The studentship might also involve laboratory experiments to test fundamental relationships predicted by the model. Together this empirical work, together with input from an expert panel of key stakeholders will help to refine the model.

It is expected that the candidate will develop methodological skills in reviewing evidence, qualitative and/or quantitative skills as well as specialist knowledge in behavioural, safety and implementation science. In addition, they would be supported to develop their network and wider research skills. The student would be expected to shape the full plan for the thesis with support from the supervisory team.

The studentship will be based at the School of Psychology at the University of Leeds and the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Research Collaboration (YH PSRC).

The YH PSRC is a collaboration between Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Universities of Leeds and Bradford. The YH PSRC is hosted within the Yorkshire Quality and Safety Research Group at the Bradford Institute for Health Research.

Our mission is to deliver research to make care safer. We are one of six NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaborations in England. Our work draws on the knowledge and expertise of well-established networks of researchers, patients, carers, clinicians and industry partners to develop ideas that address patient safety problems. 

As a YH PSRC PhD student you will become an NIHR trainee and will benefit from a range of training support and resources to develop knowledge and health research skills.

Duration of the Award

• Full-time (3 years). The award will be made for one year in the first instance and renewable for a further period of up to two years, subject to satisfactory academic progress.

Other Conditions

• Applicants must not have already been awarded or be currently studying for a doctoral degree.
• Awards must be taken up by 31^st March 2025
• Applicants must live within a reasonable distance of the University of Leeds whilst in receipt of this scholarship and will be expected to join in with our thriving research community.

To apply for this scholarship opportunity applicants should complete an online application form and attach the following documentation to support their application. 

• a full academic CV
• degree certificate and transcripts of marks
• Evidence that you meet the University’s minimum English language requirements (if applicable)

To help us identify that you are applying for this scholarship project please ensure you provide the following information on your application form;

• Select PhD in Psychology as your programme of study
• Give the full project title and name the supervisors listed in this advert
• For source of funding please state you are applying for a (NIHR YH-PSRC Scholarship (De-cluttering safely)

_{Applicants to this scholarship in the School of Psychology should normally have an Undergraduate degree of 2:1 or above (or equivalent) in a relevant subject area. A Master’s degree is desirable, but not essential. Applicants who are uncertain about the requirements for a particular research degree are advised to contact the Admissions Team prior to making an application.}

^{The minimum English language entry requirement for study in the School of Medicine is an IELTS of 6.5 overall with at least 6.0 in each component (reading, writing, listening and speaking) or equivalent. The test must be dated within two years of the start date of the course.}

We encourage you to contact the supervisors to discuss this studentship. Please contact Professor Rebecca Lawton (r.j.lawton@leeds.ac.uk) or Dr Chris Keyworth (c.keyworth@leeds.ac.uk) Other information about the application process please contact the Admissions team: fmhpgradmissions@leeds.ac.uk