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Biography

Dr Ruth Abrams is an Associate Professor in the School of Health Sciences at the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ and an organisational psychologist with an internationally recognised programme of research focused on creating healthy, sustainable and equitable healthcare workplaces.

Her research examines how workforce, organisational and system factors shape staff wellbeing, retention and service delivery across health and care settings. She has particular expertise in primary care workforce development, women in healthcare, and workplace interventions that support women's reproductive health across pregnancy, postnatal return to work and menopause. She is also recognised for methodological expertise in realist review and realist evaluation, which she applies to understanding what works, for whom, in what circumstances and why.

Ruth leads and collaborates on major NIHR-funded research exploring workforce sustainability, multidisciplinary models of primary care, women's experiences of work and healthcare careers, and the implementation of complex health service innovations. Her work aims to generate actionable evidence that informs policy, service redesign and workforce practice.

Beyond her research, Ruth provides leadership nationally and internationally in the development and application of realist methods. She founded and co-leads the Realist Health and Social Care Workforce Special Interest Group, supporting researchers and practitioners interested in workforce-focused realist inquiry. She also co-leads the Primary Care Workforce Research Network with colleagues across UK institutions, strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration in workforce research.

At the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½, Ruth serves as Academic Co-Lead for Research Culture: People and Environment. She previously served as Interim Director of Research and Impact Champion for the School of Health Sciences. Nationally, she sits on the Editorial Board of the British Journal of General Practice and serves as a member of the NIHR Public Health Research Funding Committee. 

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Biography

Vickie is a Research Fellow working on the Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) Project: NIHR161818 - Investigating the conditions in which women GPs thrive in General Practice: What works, for whom, how and in what circumstances? Led by Dr Ruth Abrams.

Vickie is particularly interested in embodiment, temporality and interventions that support women’s health and wellbeing at work. Her doctoral thesis explores the experience of working with endometriosis and the influence of menstrual policy. Her research has so far advised parliamentary debates on supporting endometriosis in the workplace as well as the Women and Work APPG on menstrual wellbeing, and formed the basis of her TEDx talk ‘End-o, not the end of a career’. Vickie also sits on the Menstruation Friendly Independent Panel of experts accrediting organisations who support menstrual health at work. 

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Biography

I am an applied medical sociologist and qualitative methodologist.  My research uses qualitative and inter-disciplinary approaches to investigate the contexts/causes of distress and suicidality, including workplace injustices, working conditions and cultures, experienced by healthcare professionals. This research contests neoliberal individualised approaches which pathologise healthcare workers. Instead, my work focuses on occupational, political, systemic and cultural contexts in which staff work and and how they impact on the emotional and psychological health of healthcare workers. 

My previous research explored contexts contributing to distress in GPs and then junior doctors; my recent research project explored the impact of NHS staff suicide on their colleagues and teams to develop the first evidence-based postvention guidance for the NHS.  

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