Graham Martin

Portrait of Tim Draycott

Many of you will have seen our recent tribute to Professor Tim Draycott (1964–2025), a global leader in maternity safety whose work has saved countless lives. Today, we want to share how we at THIS Institute plan to ensure Tim’s vision lives on.

This is what happens when people have better housing, nutrition, hygiene, treatment for infections and long term conditions etc. Oh and vaccines.

Really excited to announce the publication of our framework which has been informed by a combination of literature, stakeholder interviews, consultation and real-world usability testing.

Trying to resolve a debate about the punctuation of my work address with colleagues, and Google's AI has been as helpful as one would expect.

Even with support systems in place, many NHS staff still feel unsafe or unheard when raising concerns about quality and safety. Join Nnenna Osuji & Graham Martin as they unpack the barriers and explore what real change looks like. Register: ths.im/4nGd5wJ

A clinician takes notes during a consultation with a patient sitting on a bed

Patient safety specialists take NHS experience and blend it with expertise in safety theory to help manage safety risks. We examined their efforts to put their expertise into practice and how they worked with existing professional groups.

Full paper: ths.im/47jOmI8
THIS summary: ths.im/47l8t8A

We're seeking a research associate/assistant in health services research (maternity cover)

Check out this opportunity for an early career researcher to join our team and support an exciting programme of work on innovation and improvement in healthcare.

ths.im/47snrKd

Is research really worth it? with Professor Kathryn Oliver | LSHTM Research is something we spend a lot of money and time on — as individuals, organisations, and states. But is it worth it? Do we get bang for our buck? Who really benefits? And does research actually

Come along tomorrow to LSHTM, Keppel Street or online to hear me talk about why we do research, why it's not used, and how we might engineer the system to get better value for all of us...

www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...

NHS Patient Choice Policy in England: What Mapping the Private Healthcare Market for NHS Patients Can Tell Us - Liverpool Law Review This article examines how the private healthcare market supports successive governments’ commitment in the English National Health Service (NHS) to patient choice of NHS or private provider. The Labou...

📣New article!

We use publicly-available NHS referral data to outline the private healthcare market for NHS patients 2008-2024, and to review NHS patient choice policies since New Labour. (1/3)

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

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come along to our first event 31st october or add yourself to our mailing list for a streamed section of the day. it's going to be excellent. no sponsorship, independent, and amazing people are coming medicine.st-andrews.ac.uk/centreforevi...

UK sociologist of health? Next call for @fshi.bsky.social awards closes 30th october www.shifoundation.org.uk/schemes/

THIS Space 2025 programme is now live! Join us virtually on 25 November. The event is free to attend, but booking is essential and space is limited. View the full programme and register here: ths.im/4nGd5wJ

#THISspace2025

Roll up roll up for the great higher education fire sale From covert mergers to regulatory complacency, Jim Dickinson reveals how market logic is reshaping UK higher education – and why the fate of Buckingham could set a troubling precedent From covert merg...

An important and insightful, if thoroughly depressing, read about UK higher education.

wonkhe.com/blogs/roll-u...

Senior Fellow (SF05/25) We are looking to recruit a Senior Fellow to lead on projects across a range of topics within health and care.

There are just three days left to apply to our Senior Fellow role... 🔍

If you can lead on projects at the forefront of research into health and social care, we'd love to hear from you.

Take a look at our vacancy and apply by Sunday 31 August. #researchjobs

www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/job/senior-f...

We are recruiting! Are you an early or mid-career health services researcher with an interest in improving the quality of UK healthcare? This Research Associate or Assistant Research Professor role could be the one for you. Deadline 7 September. www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

Research Fellow at The University of Edinburgh Apply for the Research Fellow role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

Exciting research fellow role at the University of Edinburgh working with Martyn Pickersgill and colleagues on a timely and fascinating-sounding project on how health (mis)information is regulated across countries: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNY639/r...

Another great post fr @chrischirp.bsky.social focusing on @nihr.bsky.social HSDR funding to improve patient's and staff's experiences. Very proud to be involved, & to have the opportunity to work w and learn fr fab colleagues including @instagraham.bsky.social @katiejsheehan.bsky.social

Hope over experience? Patient and staff voice in the NHS after the Dash review Penny Dash’s review of patient safety in England has recommended major changes to the organisational landscape.1 National bodies will be abolished or merged, and strategic planning and coordination is...

Penny Dash’s recent review calls for major reforms in patient safety – but while change is needed, the review also raises some important questions. @instagraham.bsky.social and @janekohara.bsky.social comment on the review and its potential impact on patient safety. Read the editorial ths.im/4m8XFQX

New opinion piece in @bmj.com
by me and @janekohara.bsky.social: whither patient and staff voice in the NHS post-Dash? Decluttering the safety landscape is necessary but will NHS organisations listen to patients and staff without independent advocacy? www.bmj.com/content/390/...

This isn't new but I'll feel better for bleeting it.

Publisher: Congrats, we are pleased to accept your paper!
<Months pass>
Author: Please could I have an update?
Publisher:
<Months pass>
Publisher: Check your proofs by TOMORROW (Saturday) or we'll publish an error-strewn version in your name.

Professor Niels Peek delivers a lecture at the Great Hall, Homerton College, while the audience listens attentively.

What can AI really do for healthcare improvement – and what’s still missing?

In THIS Institute and Homerton College’s 2025 annual lecture, Niels Peek (@nielspeek.bsky.social) cuts through the AI hype.

🎥 Watch ‘Evidence-based healthcare innovation in the age of AI’ ths.im/4nl8uRh

New article in Social Theory & Health, co-authored with
@judegreen.bsky.social, open access.

In a nutshell we argue that that lived-experience research is not the same as qualitative sociology in health research. The difference exists and matters.

Read here: rdcu.be/evZ7F

Deputy Director of the Geller Institute for Aging and Memory at University of West London Apply for the Deputy Director of the Geller Institute for Aging and Memory role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

Job opportunity - deputy director of the Geller Institute for Ageing and Memory at the University of West London, working with Katie Featherstone and colleagues: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNT550/d...

Wes Streeting has laid out bold plans for English maternity services - but will they work?

Our @bmj.com opinion has now been published, exploring some ways that they might be enhanced.

www.bmj.com/content/390/...

Written with the fabulous @marydixonwoods.bsky.social @instagraham.bsky.social

Great piece, but I feel that The Conversation is really trying to kill my mood.

NHS ten-year plan for England: what’s in it and what’s needed to make it work Ten-year NHS transformation hinges on funding and staff support.

In case you missed it: my article for @uk.theconversation.com on theTen Year Health Plan for England. So many ideas (and some good ones at that) but precious little about how to implement them. #NHSPlan #FitForTheFuture #NHS #healthpolicy

theconversation.com/nhs-ten-year...

Blue screen with NHS logo

We welcome publication of the new 10-year health plan. We're here to build evidence in line with the plan through projects like:
• Evaluating ambient voice technology and launching a new online community
• Supporting design and planning of large-scale change programmes
Find out more: ths.im/4laMCq3

A diagram of clinicians’ considerations around offering rescue packs to patients discharged following COPD exacerbation There are three nested ovals depicting different levels of considerations, with text inside. The largest oval has the heading “Macro-level considerations” and includes three text boxes: antibiotic stewardship; preventing hospital admissions; and pressures in the NHS. The middle oval has the heading “Meso-level considerations” and includes three text boxes: following national guidance and audit requirements; hospital clinicians’ access to patients’ primary care records; and local access to primary care. The smallest oval has the heading “Micro-level considerations” and includes two text-boxes: patient’s self-management skills and empowering patients.

Screenshot of the paper's pdf. Title: Respiratory Clinicians’ Views on Offering “Rescue Packs” to Patients Discharged After COPD Exacerbation: Qualitative Interview Study Authors: Karolina Kuberska, Graham Martin, John R. Hurst, Mona Bafadhel Abstract “Rescue packs” for COPD exacerbations, consisting of a course of antibiotics and steroids, have become part of self-management strategies for many patients living with COPD. Currently, in the UK, rescue packs are guideline-recommended but not routinely offered on hospital discharge. They are, however, commonly prescribed by primary care teams. This study examined hospital-based respiratory clinicians’ views on offering patients rescue packs following hospitalisation for COPD exacerbations. We conducted 24 individual and joint semi-structured interviews via telephone or videocall with 30 clinicians (respiratory consultants, respiratory registrars and specialist nurses) in 20 UK hospitals to understand variation in practice around, and views on, offering rescue packs to discharged COPD patients. Interview data were analysed using the constant comparative method. Clinicians’ views on offering rescue packs were a mixture of concerns and recognition of potential benefits. Concerns included antimicrobial resistance, individual overuse of antibiotics, and potential side effects of steroids, especially in patients with poorer understanding of their own condition, with lower self-management skills, or who found it difficult to access primary care. Recognised benefits included the potential to prevent future exacerbations, empowering patients by supporting COPD self-management, and circumventing the difficulties of securing an urgent primary care appointment. There was a consensus that supporting patients in self-management of COPD was key to effective care. Given the increasing role of self-management for patients living with COPD, it is vital to ensure that patients are able to appropriately use rescue packs.

📢New publication📢

Respiratory Clinicians’ Views on Offering “Rescue Packs” to Patients Discharged After COPD Exacerbation: Qualitative Interview Study
doi.org/10.1080/1541...

@instagraham.bsky.social @profhurst.bsky.social @monabafadhel.bsky.social

🎯 68% of PIP appeals are overturned in favor of disabled people - proving the system already wrongly denies support. Now they want to make it even harder to qualify. This isn't reform, it's institutionalized discrimination. #WelfareNotWarfare #TakingThePip