The Health Systems Research Group is a group of management scientists who share an interest in developing and applying Operational Research, Operations Management, and Information Systems methods and theories, quantitative and qualitative, to important health systems issues. Whilst the health systems research issues tackled are wide and varied, many of them relate to the general challenges of helping health systems to make better use of available resources in terms of both improving efficiency and improving patient experiences. Much of it concerns elements of knowledge transfer, be it between researchers and practitioners, between industry and healthcare, or between the health systems of different countries.

Research is undertaken in various modes, including longer-term research via PhD, Research Council-funded projects, and NHS R&D-funded projects, and shorter-term research via Master's student projects and consultancy projects. This mix of research modes means that shorter-term projects designed to meet fast-moving organisational timescales can be informed by ongoing research and expertise, whilst longer-term research can benefit from genuine experience of the real issues faced within health systems. Examples of MRes/PhD research and Master's projects can be accessed below.

A number of these people are also involved in collaborations with colleagues in other LUMS departments through the Centre for Health Futures or in multi-disciplinary projects across the University through the Health Innovation Campus.

Interested PhD candidates would typically have some knowledge of health systems and strong knowledge of some area of management science. Research topics and methodology can then be tailored to meet the needs and interests of the candidate and the interests and expertise of potential supervisors, for example:

• performance management
• waiting list management
• impacts of spatial factors on health service delivery
• health systems improvement
• systems that transform patients-provider communication
• systems to support health promotion planning
• modelling patient flows in healthcare
• Optimisation, analysis and simulation of Bayesian designs of adaptive clinical trials

Previous and ongoing PhD projects:

• Empathic Design for Healthcare Improvement, M. Al Khatani (2008)
• The Diffusion of Operations Research in Management Decision Making - An Analysis of U.S. Healthcare Organisations, J. Langabeer (2009)
• Generic simulation modelling of Accident and Emergency patient flows in acute hospitals in England, A. Fletcher (2012)
• An Agent-Based Model of the IL-1 Stimulated Nuclear Factor-kappa B Signalling Pathway – Richard Williams, University of York (2015)
• The development and application of an analytical healthcare model for understanding and improving hospital performance, D. Suen (2016)
• Managing radiotherapy treatment trade-offs using multi-criteria optimisation and data envelopment analysis, K-M Lin (2016)
• Online Discrete Event Simulation for the Management of Inpatient Beds (Ongoing)
• Bayesian Bandit Models for the Optimal Design of Clinical Trials (ongoing)
• Stakeholder saliency dynamics in strategic ICT projects in the Saudi public healthcare system: appreciative systems perspective, T. Al-Ghaith (2013)

Recent MSc projects:

• Developing a generic simulation model for NHS England to better understand hospital bed occupancy by time of day and its impact on A&E performance.
• Prostate cancer pathway modelling for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
• Discrete Event Simulation of patient pathways for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment for Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
• Modelling the emergency response service in Blackpool Division for North West Ambulance Service
• Strategic and operational modelling for Day Case services at the Lancashire Cardiac Centre
• Analysing A&E services at Hillingdon Hospital – identifying the drivers of 4-hour breaches
• Cost-effectiveness study of Ventricular Assist Devices for Warwick Evidence HTA Centre
• Investigating a phased approach to the possible implementation of the FRG formula for funding general practices for the Department of Health
• Modelling clinical pathways for strokes for PenCHORD, University of Exeter

If you have any queries you wish to discuss, please contact Dr Dave Worthington, and if you would like to apply for a PhD, please visit our PhD in Management Science.