![Professor Louise Locock Professor Louise Locock](/img/200x200/staffpages/uploads/s03ml7/26418_3_1000.jpg)
FAcSS PhD MPhil
Professor in Health Services Research
- About
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- Email Address
- louise.locock@abdn.ac.uk
- Office Address
Health Services Research Unit
University of AberdeenRoom 204
2nd Floor, Health Sciences Building
Foresterhill
Aberdeen
AB25 2ZD- School/Department
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition
Biography
I joined the Health Services Research Unit in 2017 as Professor in Health Services Research. Previously I spent 14 years with the Health Experiences Research Group, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, where I was Director of Applied Research. I am a qualitative social science researcher interested in personal experience of health and illness; patient-centred quality improvement and co-design; patient and family involvement in research and care; remote and rural healthcare. A major recent focus of my work has been how we can better use different types of patient experience data to improve care.
As of January 2024 I am now partially retired, and will mostly be working on Wednesdays and Thursdays only
Qualifications
- MA Modern Langauges (French and German)1984 - University of Oxford
- M Phil Comparative Social Policy1995 - University of Oxford
- PhD Explicit rationing within the NHS quasi-market: the experience of health authority purchasers, 1996-971998 - London School of Economicshttp://etheses.lse.ac.uk/98/
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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School Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee member
School Patient and Public Involvement working group member
- External Memberships
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Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences
Member of the MND Association Healthcare Research Advisory Panel
- Research
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Research Overview
Patient and staff experience; quality improvement using patient experience data; patient and public involvement; experiences of research participation (particularly clinical trials and biobanking); qualitative methods; motor neurone disease and other neurological conditions; long term conditions; pregnancy and parenting experiences; rural and remote health
Research Areas
Research Specialisms
- Health Studies
- Health and Social Care
- Social Policy
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Current Research
From 2024-2029 I am co-investigator on a new interdisclinary programme grant funded by the Chief Scientist Office, Building Rural-Urban healthCare Equity for Scotland (BRUCES) – a multi-methods research programme in cancer, musculoskeletal health and frailty. The programme is co-led by Prof Peter Murchie and Dr Rosemary Hollick; I will be co-leading the qualitative work package with Prof Lorna Philip from the Geography Department.
I am co-investigator on a UK-wide study of pregnancy and multi-morbidity led by PI Prof Krish Nirantharakumar, University of Birmingham (MuM-PreDiCT). At Aberdeen we have jointly led a programme of interviews with people with multiple conditions who are or have recently been pregnant, partners and health professionals. I am also a co-investigator on Dr Mairead Black's NIHR study to develop a decision-aid around elective caesarean birth planning, Plan-A.
I am co-investigator on two Versus Arthritis programmes of research, one on PAtient-centred Care for FIbromyalgia: New pathway Design’ (PACFIND), led by Professor Gary MacFarlane and one on Vasculitis (VOICES) led by Dr Rosemary Hollick. Both studies have also produced new Healthtalk modules on fibromyalgia and vasculitis.
I'm also involved in the NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaboration (Aberdeen), a partnership led by Aberdeen City Council.
Past Research
As principal investigator I have led two studies on recruitment and retention of healthcare staff in remote and rural areas. One, funded by the Chief Scientist Office of Scotland, investigated the motivations and experiences of doctors with regard to practising remote and rural medicine with a view to enhancing recruitment and retention of rural doctors in Scotland. The second study, funded by the NIHR, focused on community-led initiatives to improve healthcare recruitment and retention in remote and rural areas, in both Scotland and England.
I was co-investigator on two Versus Arthritis programmes of research, one on PAtient-centred Care for FIbromyalgia: New pathway Design’ (PACFIND), led by Professor Gary MacFarlane and one on Vasculitis (VOICES) led by Dr Rosemary Hollick. Both studies have also produced new Health Experiences Insights modules on Fibromyalgia and Systemic Vasculitis.
As a co-investigator, I was involved in a study on experiences of Long COVID, led by Prof Kate Hunt at the University of Stirling and funded by the Chief Scientist Office, and a linked study funded by NIHR on family experiences of COVID, led by Prof Sue Ziebland at the University of Oxford, and a further ESRC/UKRI funded study also led by Sue Ziebland, 'Experiences of COVID-19 and recovery: learning from polyphonic voices for communities, policy makers and health and social care providers'.
Other recently completed studies include:
ACORN (Asynchronous Consultation Research for the NHS), examining the role of asynchronous consultation methods in secondary care after COVID-19, funded by the Health Foundation.(Joint PI with Prof Craig Ramsay)
An inter-disciplinary study of funerals as a form of care and how they have been affected by the pandemic, led by Prof Vikki Entwistle.
A study based in NHS Grampian on how staff feel about and respond to online patient feedback on Care Opinion Scotland. A wider qualitative study on Care Opinion Scotland with a PhD studentship funded by THIS Institute, Cambridge, ended in 2023 (with PhD student Emma Berry).
The experiences of families with inherited motor neurone disease. The Motor Neurone Disease Association awarded funding for 2019-22 to make interviews conducted as part of this PhD into a public resource. (With PhD student Jade Howard, viva passed with minor corrections March 2023).
I was also co-investigator on two further Oxford-led studies:
SuMMIT-D: support through mobile messaging and digital health technology for diabetes. NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research (PI Andrew Farmer)
PURSUE: Understanding experiences of urogynaecological conditions and health services. NIHR Policy Research Programme (PIs Abi McNiven and Francine Toye)
and two studies led by Manchester Metropolitan:
Bridging the translation gap between learning disability policy and practice in search of flourishing lives. NIHR Schhol for Social Care Research. (PI Sara Ryan)
Understanding and using people’s experiences of social care to guide service improvements:could an effective and efficient co-design approach be translated from health to social care? NIHR Health Service and Delivery Research (PI Sara Ryan)
As Principal Investigator I completed the US-PEx project, a study funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Service and Delivery Research programme 14/156/06. This project aimed to get a better understanding of how NHS frontline staff use different types of patient feedback to improve health services and develop tools to help them make better use of these data.
I was also co-investigator on the INQUIRE project led by Professor John Powell at the University of Oxford on how the NHS can use online patient feedback.
During 2020-21 i collaborated with Prof Judith Smith and Emily Burn at the University of Birmingham and Dr Becks Fisher at the Health Foundation on a study of narrative accounts of primary care practitioners in a time of Covid-19.
A study in collaboration with the University of Leicester and THIS Institute, University of Cambridge, on Developing A Visual Identification Method For People with Cognitive Impairment in Hospital (DA VINCI) has recently been completed.
Supervision
My current supervision areas are: Applied Health Sciences.
Please note that from 1 January 2024 I am partially retired and will no longer be taking on new PhD students.
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
I currently supervise 3 PhD students, and teach on using qualitative patient experience research for quality improvement.
From January 2024 I am partially retired and no longer taking on new PhD or Masters projects
- Publications
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How frontline teams engage with patient-centred quality improvement
Nursing Times, vol. 117, no. 2, pp. 34-36Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe Impact of COVID-19 on Primary Care Practitioners: Transformation, Upheaval and Uncertainty
Organising Care in a Time of Covid-19: Implications for Leadership, Governance and Policy. Waring, J., Denis, J., Reff Pedersen, A., Tenbensel, T. (eds.). Springer International Publishing AG, pp. 179-201, 23 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersRecruitment and retention of participants in UK surgical trials: survey of key issues reported by trial staff
BJS Open, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 1238–1245Contributions to Journals: ArticlesMoving to remote ethnography during Covid-19
Contributions to Conferences: Other Contributions- [ONLINE] PDF Visual Abstract
Can the UK 24-item family satisfaction in the intensive care unit questionnaire be used to evaluate quality improvement strategies aimed at improving family satisfaction with the ICU? A qualitative study
Journal of the Intensive Care Society, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 312-319Contributions to Journals: ArticlesUnderstanding the child-doctor relationship in research participation: a qualitative study
BMC Pediatrics, vol. 20, 353Contributions to Journals: ArticlesWild Data: How Frontline Hospital Staff Make Sense of Patients’ Experiences
Sociology of Health & Illness, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 1424-1440Contributions to Journals: ArticlesHow do frontline staff use patient experience data for service improvement?: Findings from an ethnographic case study evaluation
Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 151-161Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPartial or total knee replacement? Identifying patients’ information needs on knee replacement surgery: a qualitative study to inform a decision aid
Quality of Life Research, vol. 29, pp. 999-1011Contributions to Journals: ArticlesUnderstanding how front-line staff use patient experience data for service improvement: an exploratory case study evaluation
Health Services and Delivery Research, vol. 8, no. 13, pp. 1-204Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAnonymity, veracity and power in online patient feedback: A quantitative and qualitative analysis of staff responses to patient comments on the ‘Care Opinion’ platform in Scotland
Digital Health, vol. 6, pp. 1-13Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2055207619899520
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/13600/1/Locock_etal_DigiHealth_VOR.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
'Team capital’ in quality improvement teams: findings from an ethnographic study of front-line quality improvement in the NHS
BMJ Open Quality, vol. 9, no. 2, e000948Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSupporting people with type 2 diabetes in effective use of their medicine through mobile health technology integrated with clinical care (SuMMiT-D Feasibility): a randomised feasibility trial protocol
BMJ Open, vol. 9, no. 12, e033504Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDrawing straight lines along blurred boundaries: Qualitative research, patient and public involvement in medical research, coproduction and co-design
Evidence & Policy, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 409-421Contributions to Journals: Articles“About sixty per cent I want to do it”: Health researchers’ attitudes to, and experiences of, patient and public involvement (PPI)—A qualitative interview study
Health Expectations, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 721-730Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPatients, Families, and Care Settings
Context in Action and How to Study It: Illustrations from Health Care. Meier, N., Dopson, S. (eds.). Oxford University Press, pp. 155-165, 11 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersFrom waste product to blood, brains and narratives: developing a pluralist sociology of contributions to health research
Sociology of Health & Illness, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 585-600Contributions to Journals: Articles“…I’ve said I wish I was dead, you’d be better off without me”: A systematic review of people’s experiences of living with severe asthma
Journal of Asthma, vol. 56, no. 3, pp. 311-322Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPatient and public involvement (PPI) in UK surgical trials: a survey and focus groups with stakeholders to identify practices, views and experiences
Trials, vol. 20, 119Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3183-0
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/11903/1/Patient_and_public_involvement.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
- [ONLINE] View publication in Mendeley
Involving service users in the qualitative analysis of patient narratives to support healthcare quality improvement
Research Involvement and Engagement, vol. 5, 1Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-018-0133-z
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/11744/1/Involving_service_users_in_the_qualitative_analysis_of_patient_narratives_to_support_healthcare_quality_improvement.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Mendeley
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
The contribution of ethnography to the evaluation of quality improvement in hospital settings: reflections on observing co-design in intensive care units and lung cancer pathways in the UK
Anthropology & Medicine, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 18-32Contributions to Journals: ArticlesUnderstanding and using health experiences to improve healthcare: Examples from the United Kingdom
Illness Narratives in Practice: Potentials and challenges of using narratives in health-related contexts. Lucius-Hoene, G., Holmberg, C., Meyer, T. (eds.). Oxford University Press, pp. 263-271, 9 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)Bias due to MEasurement Reactions In Trials to improve health (MERIT): protocol for research to develop MRC guidance
Trials, vol. 19, 653Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA licence to drive?: Neurological illness, loss and disruption
Sociology of Health & Illness, vol. 40, no. 7, pp. 1186-1199Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12754
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/12289/1/shi_proof_FEB18.pdf
Untimely illness: When diagnosis does not match age-related expectations
Health Expectations, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 730-740Contributions to Journals: ArticlesNavigating an unfamiliar world: how parents of young people who self-harm experience support and treatment
Child and Adolescent Mental Health, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 78-84Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12205
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/10597/1/Locock_Accepted_Manuscript.pdf
Kidney age, not kidney disease
Canadian Medical Association Journal, vol. 190, no. 13, pp. E389-E393Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.170674
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/10295/1/resubCMAJ210917_2_.pdf
Empowering people to help speak up about safety in primary care: Using codesign to involve patients and professionals in developing new interventions for patients with multimorbidity
Health Expectations, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 539-548Contributions to Journals: Articles"This illness diminishes me. What it does is like theft": A qualitative meta-synthesis of people's experiences of living with asthma
Health Expectations, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 23-40Contributions to Journals: ArticlesFemale genital mutilation in the UK- where are we, where do we go next? Involving communities in setting the research agenda
Research Involvement and Engagement, vol. 4, 9Contributions to Journals: ArticlesWhat can make things better for parents when babies need abdominal surgery in their first year of life?: A qualitative interview study in the UK
BMJ Open, vol. 8, e020921Contributions to Journals: ArticlesBlood pressure self-monitoring in pregnancy: Examining feasibility in a prospective cohort study
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, vol. 17, no. 1, 442Contributions to Journals: ArticlesBlood Pressure Self-Monitoring in Pregnancy (BuMP) feasibility study: a qualitative analysis of women's experiences of self-monitoring
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, vol. 17, pp. 1-9Contributions to Journals: ArticlesLabour and love for Mr Pink
Veterinary Record, vol. 181, no. 19, pp. 518Contributions to Journals: Editorials- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.j5236
Patients’ initial steps to cancer diagnosis in Denmark, England and Sweden: what can a qualitative, cross-country comparison of narrative interviews tell us about potentially modifiable factors?
BMJ Open, vol. 7, no. 11, pp. 1-10Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018210
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/9701/1/e018210.full.pdf
The power of symbolic capital in patient and public involvement in health research
Health Expectations, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 836-844Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSharing Experiences of Illness and Care.
JAMA Internal Medicine, vol. 177, no. 9, pp. 1249-1250Contributions to Journals: Comments and Debates- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.1935
Is it worth it? Patient and public views on the impact of their involvement in health research and its assessment: a UK-based qualitative interview study
Health Expectations, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 519-528Contributions to Journals: ArticlesMaking Sense of an Unknown Terrain: How Parents Understand Self-Harm in Young People
Qualitative health research, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 215-225Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732315603032
Randomised feasibility study of a novel experience-based internet intervention to support self-management in chronic asthma.
BMJ Open, vol. 6, no. 12, pp. e013401Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA novel experience-based internet intervention for smoking cessation: feasibility randomised controlled trial
BMC Public Health, vol. 16, 1156Contributions to Journals: ArticlesWhy young people participate in clinical trials
European Journal of Public Health, vol. 26, no. Suppl. 1, ckw167.043Contributions to Journals: Abstracts- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckw167.043
Embedding new technologies in practice - a normalization process theory study of point of care testing.
BMC Health Services Research, vol. 16, 591Contributions to Journals: ArticlesBiosamples as gifts? How participants in biobanking projects talk about donation.
Health Expectations, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 805-816Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAttitudes towards antenatal vaccination, Group B streptococcus and participation in clinical trials: Insights from focus groups and interviews of parents and healthcare professionals.
Vaccine, vol. 34, no. 34, pp. 4056-4061Contributions to Journals: ArticlesChanges in parenting strategies after a young person's self-harm: a qualitative study
Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, vol. 10, 20Contributions to Journals: ArticlesWhat patients do and their impact on implementation: An ethnographic study of participatory quality improvement projects in English acute hospitals
Journal of Health Organization & Management, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 258-278Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/jhom-02-2015-0027
‘I knew before I was told’: Breaches, cues and clues in the diagnostic assemblage
Social Science & Medicine, vol. 154, pp. 85-92Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26945546
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.02.037
Understanding tensions and identifying clinician agreement on improvements to early-stage chronic kidney disease monitoring in primary care: a qualitative study
BMJ Open, vol. 6, no. 3, e010337Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010337
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/9397/1/e010337.full.pdf
A Response to the Open Peer Commentaries on "Young People's Experiences of Participation in Clinical Trials: Reasons for Taking Part".
American Journal of Bioethics, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. W10-W12Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2015.1125968