Dr Deborah A Swinglehurst
Scientific Programme Committee Members
Deborah Swinglehurst is a Clinical Reader and NIHR Clinician Scientist in the Complex Intervention and Social Practice in Health Care unit within the Centre for Primary Care and Public Health. She combines her academic work with clinical work as a General Practitioner in Suffolk. She is an experienced qualitative researcher and educator in professional and higher education settings.
Deborah’s research explores interfaces between medicine, social science and linguistics with a focus on the importance of language and social interaction in shaping health care practices, organisational routines and health policy.
Research interests include polypharmacy, multimorbidity and medicines optimisation in primary care; meanings of ‘quality’ in health care; the role of technologies in shaping clinical consultations and organisational routines in primary care; exploring ‘hidden’ work in the delivery of primary care; interdisciplinary working practices. OMIT LIFE SCIENCES.
Recently completed projects include: experiences with online consultation systems in primary care; interdisciplinarity and forms of ‘engagement’ in life sciences research; the role of computer templates in shaping chronic disease management; the role of receptionists in upholding quality and safety of repeat prescribing in general practice; a study of ‘back office’ coding work in general practice and its contribution to quality of care; displays of authority in IT-mediated clinical consultations; professional resistance to nationally mandated IT programmes; rationing of ‘low value’ treatments in the NHS; what ‘timeliness’ means to GPs when engaged in the diagnosis of dementia; case study of a community Trust response to the ‘Any Qualified Provider’ policy.
