Nursing Research / Midwifery Research / Health Studies Research

My research in maternal health and reproduction is interdisciplinary between the clinical and social sciences and focuses on issues of quality and safety in maternal health care. Key themes are: a) The impact of maternal health policy at a health system and service delivery level, and on health outcomes and users' experiences b) The social and organisational implications of the translation of innovative health technologies into health care. Her research has been funded by the ESRC, MRC, Wellcome Trust, NIHR, and a range of charitable sources.Current research includes: co-leading organisational case studies in Birthplace in England, a national study of birth outcomes in home, midwife led, and obstetric led units; investigating the relationship between measures of safety climate and health care quality in A and E and intrapartum care; and conducting nested process evaluations of two trials of obesity in pregnancy behavioural interventions.

I am programme director in the NIHR King's Patient Safety and Service Quality Research Centre leading a programme of work on innovations in service quality and health technologies. The programme of work on patient safety looks at both the translation of novel technologies into health care and innovative ways of organising services differently to bridge 'gaps' in care and improve quality and safety for patients. Current research includes: a) the exploration of the management of 'failure to rescue' in medical and maternity settings b) exploration of the development, diffusion, governance and patient experience of technique-centred and clinical innovation.