Professor Ross Millar

Professor Ross Millar is an internationally recognised scholar in health organisation and management whose career has been dedicated to understanding how health and care systems are organised, governed, improved, and integrated. Currently Professor of Health Organisation and Management at the Health Services Management Centre (HSMC), University of Birmingham, he has combined academic leadership, internationally significant research, policy engagement, educational innovation, and service development throughout his career. He has served as Director and Head of Department of HSMC and has held a succession of academic appointments at the University of Birmingham since joining as a Research Associate in 2008. Before this, he completed his PhD, MRes and undergraduate studies at the University of Manchester.

Professor Millar’s interest focuses on the organisation and management of health and care services, particularly issues relating to quality and safety improvement, collaboration and partnerships, integrated care, and organisational reform. His work is united by a concern with how organisations function in practice and how policy ambitions can be translated into improvements in services and outcomes. He has developed an international reputation for policy-relevant research that bridges academic scholarship and practical application.

Professor Millar is recognised as a speaker and collaborator. His international engagement extends across Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and North America through visiting appointments, collaborations and research networks. He serves as Climate and Health Co-Lead within the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action (BISCA) and has held roles supporting research networks and conferences nationally and internationally.

Professor Millar is committed to demonstrating real-world influence beyond academia. His research and education work has informed NHS provider development, patient safety programmes, governance development initiatives, social enterprise policy, integrated care strategies and leadership development.

His educational leadership includes serving as Director of Learning and Teaching, Programme Director for multiple degree programmes, and leader of apprenticeship-based leadership education. A significant recent strand of activity has involved global health leadership and international collaboration with the University of Birmingham Dubai campus, where he has contributed to consultancy projects, leadership development programmes, health systems education and international research collaboration. His work increasingly connects health system reform, sustainability, climate action and global health leadership.

Professor Millar has made a substantial contribution to education and educational leadership. He currently leads and teaches across programmes covering global health systems, healthcare policy, leadership and emergency preparedness. Over his career he has developed and coordinated numerous postgraduate and executive education modules, supervised MSc dissertations, and achieved consistently strong student evaluations.

His teaching philosophy emphasises applied learning, leadership development, quality improvement and the integration of theory with practice.

Ross is interested in PhD supervision across the following research areas:

-Health Systems
-Health policy
-Quality improvement
-Safety
-Collaboration
-Integrated Care

Ross’s research portfolio includes leadership roles in a wide range of funded projects supported by major organisations such as the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), The Health Foundation, Care Quality Commission, Department of Health, British Academy, and regional health innovation networks. These projects have explored subjects including inter-organisational collaboration, community mental health services, whistleblowing in healthcare, patient safety collaboratives, board governance, healthcare reform, social enterprise.

A major feature of his academic contribution is a substantial body of internationally recognised publications. His research has appeared in leading journals including Sociology of Health and Illness, Social Science and Medicine, The Milbank Quarterly, Journal of Health Organization and Management, BMC Health Services Research, Public Management Review, and the Journal of Medical Internet Research. His publications have advanced understanding of NHS governance, healthcare quality and safety, organisational partnerships, whistleblowing, social enterprise, healthcare reform in China, and integrated care. He has also contributed edited books, book chapters, peer-reviewed reports, policy papers and commentaries.

Particularly influential has been his work on inter-organisational collaboration within health systems. Through realist reviews, empirical studies and theoretical syntheses, he and colleagues have developed frameworks explaining how trust, governance, reputation and relationships shape successful collaboration between healthcare organisations. This research has informed policy development, provider collaboratives, and approaches to integrated care across the NHS. His work on hospital governance and patient safety has also helped improve understanding of how boards can provide effective oversight of quality and safety, contributing to national guidance and governance development initiatives

Professor Millar’s current research activity is exploring the intersections of health systems and climate change with pilot projects exploring hospital energy sector innovation, AI assisted emergency preparedness, and local government responses to extreme heat.