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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

I am Professor of Healthcare Workforce Organisation and Wellbeing in the School of Health Sciences at the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½.  I have worked in Health Services Research since 1997, following completion of a Psychology degree at Swansea University.  My academic career began at Imperial College London (1997-2002) followed by Kings College London (2002-2017).

My main research interests are improving the wellbeing of the NHS workforce and assessing and improving multidisciplinary team working in healthcare teams.  In relation to the wellbeing of NHS staff, I have conducted national cohort studies of mental health in hospital consultants, and worked alongside Professor Jill Maben (also at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½) to complete a national evaluation of Schwartz Center Rounds in the UK, funded by the NIHR.  I am currently funded by NIHR to complete a realist synthesis aimed at understanding how to improve mental wellbeing in nurses, midwives and paramedics.  My work in relation to multidisciplinary teams led to the development of a cancer multidisciplinary team assessment and feedback tool (named MDT-FIT) that won QiC Oncology Digital Innovation of the Year in 2016.  I am currently working with ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ and Sussex Cancer Alliance to support and evaluate improvements to multidisciplinary team meetings across three tumour pathways.

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