Dr Ian Litchfield PhD

Ian Litchfield

Department of Applied Health Sciences
Senior Research Fellow

Contact details

Address
First Floor , Building Y16
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Ian Litchfield is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Birmingham, with a background in occupational medicine and interests in health service delivery. He uses qualitative and quantitative research methods in the evaluation of service delivery interventions in both primary and secondary care. Ian is currently co-lead of the Centre of Primary Care Improvement and academic lead of Birmingham Health Partner’s Evaluation Service. He is also co-lead of the recently launched West Midlands Neighbourhood Health Research Lab.

Ian is experienced in a range of collaborative improvement techniques and works with a variety of stakeholders to design, implement, and evaluate strategies for improved health care delivery. His interests are centred on process improvement, self-management, and the impact and implications of technology-enabled healthcare.

Qualifications

  • MA Sociology, University of Warwick 2021
  • PhD Occupational Medicine 2007
  • MSc Environmental Monitoring 1993
  • BSc Biological Sciences (hons) 1990

Teaching

MSc Public Health

  • Assistant module lead (Sociology and Social Policy)
  • Dissertation supervisor
  • Small group teaching 

Community Based Medicine (MBChB)

External marker

Intercalated BMedSc Degree Course Global Health

Disseration supervisor

Postgraduate supervision

Current PhDs

  • The opportunities for early detection of oral cancer in NHS dental setting – co-supervisor (School of Dentistry)

  • The use of Natural Language Processing in the automated detection of patterns in drug-drug interaction – Co-supervisor (School of Computer Science)

Recently completed

  • The use of process involvement methodologies to equip receptionists for their clinical roles in General Practice.

Research

Ongoing projects include:

  • Integrating health and social support for CYP in underserved communities: The Sparkbrook Children’s Zone (BWC-FT) 
  • A mixed methods evaluation of the Fairer Futures Fund (BSOL-ICB)
  • Embedding health coaches in primary care for diverse patient populations (NIHR)
  • The West Midlands Digital Co-Production Initiative (Innovate UK)
  • Improving outcomes for children and young people with diabetes from socio-economically deprived and/or ethnic minority groups - The Diversity in Diabetes study (NIHR)
  • Increasing participation of CYP from underserved populations in Type 1 diabetes research – The IMPACT1D study (NIHR)
  • EarLy Surveillance for Autoimmune diabetes: The ELSA Study
  • European action for the Diagnosis of Early Non-clinical Type 1 diabetes For disease Interception: The EDENTIF1 Study
  • The National Register of RF Workers (Industry/HSE)

Recently completed projects include:

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Litchfield, I 2026, 'Cancer incidence in telecommunication and broadcasting workers in the United Kingdom: Preliminary analysis of the National Register of RF Workers', International journal of hygiene and environmental health, vol. 274, 114785. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2026.114785

Litchfield, I, Dutton, F, Harper, L, Kaur, S, Luxmore, C, Rahman, L, Wolhuter, C & Bird, C 2026, 'Experiences of families using an early example of a neighbourhood multidisciplinary care team for children and young people in Birmingham, UK: a qualitative exploration of acceptability', Frontiers in pediatrics, vol. 14, 1896606. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2026.1896606

Boiko, O, Barnard-Kelly, K, Vercauteren, J, Greenfield, S, Dias, R, Quinn, LM, Litchfield, I, Papanikolaou, T, Dunne, JL, Perego, G, Gatti, F, Milano, F, Milazzo, BM, Di Mattei, V, Lange, K, Mathieu, C, Overbergh, L, Ziegler, AG, Hurtado Del Pozo, C, Scarale, MG, Mahieu, A, Omar Alsaleh, AJ, Bosi, E, Narendran, P & EDENT1FI consortium 2026, 'Exploring the psychosocial implications of general population screening for paediatric type 1 diabetes in Europe: Protocol for a mixed-methods study', Diabetic Medicine, vol. 43, no. 6, e70297. https://doi.org/10.1111/dme.70297

Quinn, LM, Elliott, J, Papanikolaou, T, Litchfield, I, Boardman, F, Boiko, O, Randell, M, Zakia, F, Garstang, J, Shukla, D, Burt, C, Gkoutos, G, Acharjee, A, Dayan, C, Faustini, S, Bentley, C, Barrett, T, Richter, A, Greenfield, SM, Dias, RP & Narendran, P 2026, 'Feasibility of general population screening for type 1 diabetes in the UK: the ELSA study', The lancet. Diabetes & endocrinology, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 197-199. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(25)00363-8

Fathi, H, Rojhanian, T, Kazemian, A, Litchfield, I & Ravaghi, V 2026, 'Introducing Mid-Level Dental Providers in Iran: Challenges and Opportunities', Community Dentistry And Oral Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdoe.70109

Spinos, D, Beech, T, Lee, J, Coulson, C, French, L, Greenfield, S, Litchfield, I, Nankivell, P, Allen, R & Muzaffar, J 2026, 'Referral to treatment times in the National Health Service of England: A five-year analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and socioeconomic deprivation and future implications for Ear, Nose and Throat service delivery', PLOS One, vol. 21, no. 4, e0346596. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0346596

Spinos, D, Beech, T, Coulson, C, Greenfield, S, Litchfield, I, Nankivell, P, Allen, R & Muzaffar, J 2026, 'Remote assessment and practice implementation for disorders in ears, nose and throat: a mixed-methodology observational study in the United Kingdom', BMJ Open, vol. 16, no. 4, e115521. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-115521

Walton, H, Crellin, N, Litchfield, I, Sherlaw-Johnson, C, Georghiou, T, Massou, E, Sidhu, M, Tomini, SM, Herlitz, L, Ellins, J, Ng, PL & Fulop, NJ 2025, 'Applying the major system change framework to evaluate implementation of rapid healthcare system change: a case study of COVID-19 remote home monitoring services', Implementation Science Communications, vol. 6, no. 1, 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-025-00707-y

Sidhu, M, McKenna, G, Wu, F, Litchfield, I & Sussex, J 2025, 'A rapid evaluation of staff and patient experiences of care delivery as part of a vertically integrated model of care', Journal of Integrated Care. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICA-12-2024-0074

Bird, C, Dutton, F, Kaur, S, Wolhuter, C & Litchfield, I 2025, 'Early activity and impact of a neighbourhood multidisciplinary team that integrates health and social support for underserved children and young people in Birmingham, UK: an observational study', BMJ Paediatrics Open, vol. 9, no. 1, e003935. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2025-003935

Review article

Delanerolle, G, Jouaiti, M, Pathiraja, V, Mudalige, T, Eleje, GU, Mbwele, B, Cavalini, H, Kurmi, O, Tweneboah-Koduah, F, Afful, N, Rathnayake, N, Bouchareb, Y, Shi, JQ, Shetty, A, Litchfield, I, Phiri, P & Elneil, S 2026, 'A scoping review on the use of Artificial Intelligence applications in women’s health (MARIE WP1)', Discover Artificial Intelligence, vol. 6, no. 1, 525. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44163-026-01280-6

Quinn, LM, Stanley, D, Milano, F, Perego, G, Randell, MJ, Gatti, F, Catarinella, A, Dettori, LB, Sheldon, R, Abid, M, Ziegler, AG, Bonifacio, E, Mathieu, C, Peakman, M, Dunne, JL, Hurtado del Pozo, C, Vercauteren, J, Overbergh, L, Bosi, E, Di Mattei, VE, Barnard, K, Lange, K, Dias, RP, Litchfield, I, Greenfield, SM, Boardman, FK, Boiko, O, Narendran, P & EDENT1FI consortium 2026, 'Psychosocial implications, acceptability and ethics of screening for paediatric type 1 diabetes: a systematic review and mixed methods evidence synthesis', Diabetologia, vol. 69, no. 7, pp. 1759-1781. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-026-06717-2

Litchfield, IJ, Boiko, O, Sheldon, R, Sheth, V, Wijewickreme Perera, T, Greenfield, SM & Dias, RP 2026, 'Strategies to increase participant diversity in pediatric research: a systematic review', Pediatric Research.

Litchfield, I, Greenfield, S & Shukla, D 2026, 'Understanding digital inclusion through the transformation of services and users: A narrative review and proposed framework', BMJ Digital Health and AI.

Litchfield, I, Burt, C, Gardner, N, Hart, O, Lea, H, Harewood, C, Naisby, J, Natrins, I, Adams-Quakenbush, N, Thomas, N, Wilson, S & Zao, Z 2026, 'Understanding the influence and acceptability of health and wellbeing coaching in underserved populations: a qualitative systematic review', BMC Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28440-8

View all publications in research portal