Dr Oli Williams to join the Faculty following award of post-doctoral fellowship from THIS Institute, University of Cambridge

Dr Williams will be joining the Faculty in January 2019 from the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Leicester to undertake his three year fellowship. The Healthcare Improvement Studies (THIS) Institute awards post-doctoral fellowships to exceptional early-career individuals to lead an extended period of research that will contribute to the development of the field of healthcare improvement studies, and covers salary, research, dissemination and publication costs.

 Dr Williams research project is entitled ‘When the gold standard is second best: a critical examination of contemporary patient and public involvement practices in applied health research in England’. The Fellowship has four complementary objectives:

1. review the theoretical and empirical literature on (a) origins of and rationales for co-production and (b) contemporary policy and guidelines for Patient & Public Involvement (PPI) in applied health research and healthcare.
2. conduct a cross-Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC)/Applied Research Collaborations (ARC) comparison of PPI strategies (documents) and practice (co-production activities), and assess how experiences of the past/present (CLAHRCs) influence plans for the future (ARCs).
3. conduct longitudinal case study research in an applied health research organisation in Jönköping, Sweden to compare with case studies from CLAHRCs/ARCs and provide fresh perspective to inform the development of practical resources.
4. produce comprehensive and nuanced resources and guidance for PPI, incorporating insights from the practice of co-production as appropriate, that will enable meaningful involvement to improve the quality, safety and equity of healthcare.

This study will  complement work by Professor Glenn Robert and Doctor Sara Donetto as part of a new £2.3 million programme grant which aims to explore, enhance and measure the value of co-production for improving the health and social care of citizens in England and Sweden, working with Professor Sofia Kjellström and colleagues at Jönköping University.

Dr Williams’ previous research has focussed on patient and patient and public involvement where he observed that the coproduction of health research, services and interventions are widely held aspirations but rarely well delivered.

He said:
"Because of the potential for coproduction to address issues of equity by, for instance, giving greater influence to marginalised communities, I felt this was particularly problematic and so wanted to develop a research project to examine – and ultimately improve - the use of coproduction in healthcare and applied health research."

"Once this goal became clear to me the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care at King’s College London was an obvious choice as host for the Fellowship. The work of Professor Glenn Robert and his research team, in particular Dr Sara Donetto, and their strong working relationship with the Centre for Coproduction at Jönköping Academy, positions the Faculty as a leader in coproduced research and practice. It is incredibly exciting to join the Faculty and to have the opportunity to work within this excellent research team to advance THIS Institute’s ambitious agenda for healthcare improvement. "