Somerset Clinical School

Linking research with practice to improve patient outcomes across Somerset
Somerset Clinical School 2023
To increase the quality of care to patients and their families, Somerset Clinical Schools brings together University academic activities to the heart of the clinical environment.
A collaboration between the University of Plymouth and health and care organisations across the Somerset system, it supports nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, pharmacists, clinical psychologists and social care professionals to look at their practice, challenge current thinking, try out new ideas and work out ways to measure what they're doing.
Our objectives are to:
  • increase research capacity, skills, and outputs
  • facilitate higher degree study, including research
  • assist the transition of registered healthcare professionals to research leadership roles located within clinical settings.

Clinical School Leads

Senior Leadership Team

Professor Jos Latour, Dr Ralph Hammond, Veronica Price, Andrea Mostyn-Jones
Clinical School Action Group
Diana Boothman, Dr Lisa Durrant, Jon Gill (NIHR ICA PCAF awardee), Dr Rowena Pagdin, Dr Andrew Smith, John Sutton, Dr Jason Weetch
Clinical School Alumni
Oluwafemi Alo, Alice Bevan, Cecilia Cole, Tessa Dean, Charlotte Fellows, Eleonora Forbes, Beth Hawken, Rebecca Kendall, Makhosi Ndebele, Philippa Quinn, Katie Ross

Clinical School Fellows

Honorary Research Associates
Ana-Marie Toth, Daniella Griffiths, Kate Olver, Veronica Price, Naomi Stone
Honorary Research Fellows
Dr Andrew Smith, Simon Goldsworthy

Linking research with practice

Current research studies
  • Developing and testing a Comfort Intervention for cancer patients receiving RadioTherapy: the CIRT study – Simon Goldsworthy, PhD candidate.
Current service evaluation studies
  • Exploring research capacity and culture of nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals: a service evaluation – Dr Ralph Hammond, Clinical Fellow.
Somerset Clinical School activities
  • Supporting applications for pre-doctoral, doctoral and post-doctoral NIHR awards to enable research training.
  • Developing research active interest groups and accredited clinical academic wards and departments.
  • Developing and delivering researcher development programmes and seminars with clinicians to support evidence-based-practice.
  • Chief Nurse Research Fellowship Programme.
  • Writing workshops: for publication, conference, posters.

Health and Humanities

This is a collective of Trust staff with a professional or personal interest in connecting arts-based methods or humanities studies with health and well-being activities.
During summer 2023, we held a series of events
1. Interview with ex-doctor turned screenwriter, Dan Sefton.
Dan was a medic in the Musgrove Park Hospital Emergency Room for many years before establishing himself as a screenwriter. He met up with our writer in residence, Caroline Sanderson, to talk about how he got into writing, sharing some tips and tricks.
Dan Sefton - Somerset Clinical School
2. We were also able to invite Adam Kaye for interview with Caroline. He shared experiences of being a doctor, his medical training, and how he incorporated these into his two books.
3. We invited Trust staff to share their written work as part of our Holding Hope work. We captured their stories and poems. View the Holding Hope flyer .
Dan Sefton and Caroline Sanderson - Somerset Clinical School
Dan Sefton with interviewer Caroline Sanderson

Adam Kaye - Somerset Clinical School
Author and former doctor, Adam Kaye
 

Chief Nurse Research Fellowships

 

Chief Nurse Research Fellow Scheme is now open

Would you like the chance to learn more about clinical research, develop a project to address a clinical issue within your area, and build experience to develop a clinical academic career? If so, you can apply for the Chief Nurse Research Fellowship Programme 2024-25.
Now into its third year, this prestigious scheme, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is sponsored by Hayley Peters, our Chief Nurse. The scheme is open to nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals. It offers a wonderful opportunity for their development towards a clinical academic career, or research career while retaining their clinical role.
It provides funding for colleagues to have protected time from their usual duties for one day per fortnight, for 12 months, to concentrate on three key themes:
  1. Clinical research delivery experience and embedding this into clinical practice.
  2. Undertaking a systematic review for an agreed service improvement topic of your choice that benefits your service, ward, team, or practice area.
  3. Protected time to develop your own clinical academic pathway of learning.

How do I apply?

Application is via email. You must outline why you would like to become a Chief Nurse Research Fellow and how you feel you are suitable.
Applications need to be supported by your line manager; therefore, we recommend discussion prior to submission. Your line manager details need to be included in your application.
Please email your application to tamsin.reed@somersetft.nhs.uk by 3pm on Friday 2 August 2024.
Interviews will be held the week of the 26 August 2024. The panel will include Hayley Peters, Andrea Mostyn-Jones, our Trust Lead Research Nurse and Senior Research Leadership Nurse and Midwifery NIHR, and Dr Ralph Hammond, Clinical Fellow.
The programme will start on the 10 October 2024
For more information or for an informal chat, please contact: Andrea Mostyn-Jones: Andrea.Mostyn-Jones@somersetft.nhs.uk or Dr Ralph Hammond

2023-24 cohort 2

CNRF

2022-23 cohort 1

  • Alice Bevan: Identifying the challenges of implementing new radiology / referral system.
  • Eleonora Forbes and Beth Hawken: Understanding the neonatal jaundice care pathway at a District General Hospital and identifying methods of improvement, Management of neonatal jaundice readmissions within a district hospital: a service evaluation.
  • Cecilia Cole: Using semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of international nursing recruits working within ITU in a District General Hospital. https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/22245
  • Charlotte Fellows: Exploring the attitudes of teenagers in schools within Somerset towards vaccination and their experiences of the vaccination service.
  • Katie Ross: Exploring the value of daily restorative clinical supervision with community nurses.
  • Makhosi Ndebele: Understanding the views of service users regarding whether smartphones should be confiscated on admission to low level security psychiatric unit.
  • Oluwafemi Alo: Understanding the incidence and challenges of providing nursing care for people whose first language is not English on stroke units in Somerset. Nursing people on stroke units whose first language is not English: a service evaluation
  • Pip Quinn: Informed consent of women with high risk factors when choosing venue of birth.
  • Rebecca Kendall: Evaluating the impact of a ward based positivity project.
  • Tessa Dean: Exploring the clinical effectiveness of the management of heart murmurs in neonates.
 
Publications
  • Alo, O. (2023). 'Nursing people on stroke units whose first language is not English: a service evaluation', South West Clinical School Journal, 3 (4). https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/21864
  • Corby, M. and Hammond, R. (2023). 'A student allied health professional’s reflective account of a research delivery placement: changing attitudes', South West Clinical School Journal, 3 (4). https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/21865
  • Forbes, E. and Hawken, B. (2023). 'Management of neonatal jaundice readmissions within a district hospital: a service evaluation', South West Clinical School Journal, 3 (3). https://doi.org/10.24382/z8r9-c184
  • Goldsworthy S, Latour J & Palmer, S. et al. (2023). Patient and therapeutic radiographer experiences of comfort during the radiotherapy pathway: A qualitative study. Radiography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2023.02.011
  • Hammond, R, Stenner, R & Palmer, S. (2022). What matters most: a qualitative study of person-centered physiotherapy practice in community rehabilitation. 10.1080/09593985.2020.1825577

Awards and funding

Somerset Clinical School
 

Funding Awardees

  • Jon Gill, SFT advanced practice physiotherapist, won a HEE/NIHR Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship.
  • Anna-Maria Toth, clinical nurse researcher, is undertaking a Love Musgrove Charity-funded feasibility study: Hypnosis for the management of postoperative pain following colectomies: a single centre randomised controlled feasibility trial. IRAS Number: 303418.
 

Get free professional writing support

The Somerset Clinical School is delighted to be supporting a writer in residence, one day a week funded by the Royal Literary Fund. This post offers all staff the opportunity to benefit from writing advice and support from a professional, published writer.
Current Writer in Residence, Caroline Sanderson provides practical, friendly, and confidence-boosting support with all types of writing task whether professional or academic and study-related.
Caroline Sanderson - Somerset Clinical School
 

Professor Jos Latour, Professor in Clinical Nursing

“From a research point of view, it is fantastic to work clinically with colleagues. We have so many areas where we can make a difference and collaboratively work to improve the care of our patients and their families.”
Professor Jos Latour
Professor Jos Latour

Contact your Clinical School Leads

Professor Jos Latour
Dr Ralph Hammond

The Somerset Clinical School leads tend to meet in The Academy, Musgrove Park Hospital, on a Tuesday. However, if you would like to arrange an online or in person meeting with us, please get in touch and we can set something up.

South West Clinical Schools

The South West Clinical Schools are a collaboration between the University of Plymouth and the NHS, working with nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals at all stages of their clinical and academic development.
Our work with local health services has identified the urgent need to capture improvements in patient and family outcomes, as well as ensure that existing evidence is used to best develop the research led by non-medical health professionals. To meet these needs, we have invested in clinical schools, which are professorial-led centres, in five of our local NHS trusts. The main focus for the clinical schools is to encourage health professionals to look at their practice, challenge current thinking, try out new ideas and work out ways to measure what they're doing.
Find out more about the South West Clinical Schools .
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