PhD In People, Systems and Services

University of Leeds

We're a multidisciplinary mix of health service researchers and social scientists (psychologists, sociologists, implementation scientists). Some of us also have professional backgrounds, in pharmacy, nursing, midwifery and social work. Our work is primarily funded by the National Institute for Health Research (including programmes such as Health Services & Delivery Research, and Policy Research. We believe that the care and treatment that people experience in services being delivered in increasingly complex systems of health and social care depends on the people that work in these systems. We believe that “work” is not something undertaken unthinkingly and that the care and treatment people receive depends on the preparation, values, judgements and clinical decisions made with, for and by health and social care professionals and support staff – the workforce. Technology, innovations and research evidence is often cited as a solution to healthcare problems and uncertainties. But adopting health technologies and evidence-based innovation is not a passive process. It depends on the people targeted using and receiving these interventions and the contexts in which they are used. Technology, innovation, resource use and evidence-based practice are social phenomenon as well as technical and cognitive; we research these socio-technical processes and the impacts on services, patients and society.