-Tribute from colleagues in Leeds, October 2026
We are very sorry to announce the death of Suzanne Richards, Professor of Health Services Research at the University of Leeds. Sue had an internationally recognised NIHR portfolio of clinical trials and applied health research, with particular expertise in developing and evaluating complex interventions aimed at improving the health and well-being of older people in primary and acute care settings. After completing her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Cardiff University in 1993, Sue undertook a PhD in Social Medicine at the University of Bristol, awarded in 2001. She subsequently held research and clinical trials roles at the Universities of Bristol and Birmingham, before moving to the University of Exeter in 2003. There, she broadened her methodological expertise and was appointed Deputy Director of the Exeter Clinical Trials Unit in 2015. She joined the Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (LIHS) in 2016. In 2019, Sue founded the Leeds Unit for Complex Intervention Development (LUCID), bringing together expertise across LIHS and the Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research (LICTR). Through her vision and leadership, LUCID has grown into a respected interdisciplinary centre of excellence. Sue also served on the National Executive Committee of the Society for Academic Primary Care and was a national lead for career support for Primary Care Scientists. Sue was a dedicated mentor, championing the development of junior and mid-career researchers and helping colleagues build confidence, develop leadership skills and achieve promotion. Her support has enabled many researchers to progress and thrive at different stages of their careers. LUCID has become a welcoming space for visiting international doctoral students to share their research and learn from others, and through Sue's nurturing of the LUCID team, there is a strong foundation for the future of complex intervention development. Sue's collegiality and commitment to supporting early-career academics was demonstrated in her parting statement to colleagues when she retired earlier this year - ‘It has been an honour to be part of teams producing the highest quality, impactful research, and to support the next generation of academics as they build their careers and innovate NHS and social care settings.’ We will miss Sue's expertise, dedication and wisdom. Her legacy will live on through the people she supported, the research she helped shape and the foundations she established for future generations of researchers.
I joined the SAPC executive as an elected member in 2016, becoming the joint lead for the Primary Health Care Scientists (PHoCuS) Group with Dr Julia Hiscock in January 2018 and am Conference Chair for the ASM 2020 in Leeds.
In terms of background, I am a social scientist who has worked in academic primary care for over 15 years. In November 2017 I joined the University of Leeds as a professor of primary care research. Before that, I was the Deputy Director of the Exeter Clinical Trials Unit (ExeCTU) and senior lecturer in at the University of Exeter Medical School.
As a primary health care scientist, I work extensively alongside clinical colleagues providing methodological support for primary care research. From a methodological perspective, I specialise in quantitative methods that support the design and evaluation of complex interventions in applied health care settings (clinical trials and observational methods), the development and testing of participant reported outcome measures, and the evidence synthesis (systematic reviews).
My research focuses on two areas: (i) ‘Ageing Well’ - evaluating the quality and effectiveness of health and social care interventions for older people, and the provision of innovative services to improve health and well-being in later life (e.g. intermediate and rehabilitation services; mentoring and social interventions); and (ii) assessing user experiences and quality of care, including developing and measuring patient views relating to the quality of health care services (e.g. user experiences of out-of-hours services; patient satisfaction with intermediate care; quality indicators for older people’s care) and the monitoring of receipt of access to quality-indicated care.