I studied medicine at the University of Oxford with an intercalated degree in medical sciences (physiology). Following graduation I was appointed to an Academic Foundation Program based in Cambridge and subsequently undertook combined clinical and academic specialist training within the East of England. I was appointed as an NIHR academic clinical fellow in anaesthesia (2015) and subsequently completed an Mphil in Epidemiology (2019) and a PhD in Health Systems Engineering (2023) funded by a Wellcome Trust clinician PhD fellowship. Following my PhD I was recently appointed to a clinical lectureship in anaesthesia for the completion of my specialist training.
My research has explored how to support large scale data analysis with techniques drawn from systems engineering to deliver meaningful statistical results that can be used to inform the design of new ways of delivering care to patients. This has led to the development of novel ways of capturing complex in-hospital events using routinely collected data, the development of consensus causal models (to inform statistical analysis), and early models of improved care for specific cohorts of surgical patients. Alongside this extensive analytical work I have conducted co-design workshops and sought to understand how qualitative and quantitative methods can be integrated to best understand how perioperative healthcare is delivered and the impact it has on individual and population health.
I am co-lead of a national initiative to design new and integrated ways of delivering care for patients with a neurosurgical condition called a chronic subdural haematoma (cSDH). This initiative (the ‘improving care in elderly neurosurgery initiative – ICENI) is working towards producing the first ‘best practice’ guidance for looking after patients with a cSDH. This work is being conducted in partnership with the Department of Clinical Neurosurgery and This institute.
My clinical interests include neuroanaesthesia and perioperative medicine with a special interest in the delivery of perioperative care to medically complex patients.
Email: djs225@cam.ac.uk