Professor Judith Smith

Health Services Management Centre
Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director of Health Services Management Centre

Contact details

Telephone: +44(0)121 414 7068
Email: j.a.smith.20@bham.ac.uk
Twitter: @DrJudithSmith

View my research portal

Address: School of Social Policy, Health Services Management Centre
Park House
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2RT, United Kingdom

Judith is a highly experienced and widely published health services researcher and policy analyst. She took up post as Director of the Health Services Management Centre (HSMC) and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Birmingham on 1 June 2015. This followed six years spent as Director of Policy at the Nuffield Trust, an independent charitable health research foundation in London.

Earlier in her career, Judith spent 12 years at HSMC, holding the positions of Senior Lecturer, Director of Research, and Academic Director of the NHS Management Training Scheme. From 2007 to 2009, Judith was based in New Zealand as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Health Services Research Centre of Victoria University of Wellington and working as an advisor to the New Zealand Ministry of Health. Early in her career she was a senior manager in the NHS, and successfully completed the NHS graduate management training scheme. Judith is a Non-executive Director of the Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, an Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Judith’s other roles have included being an expert advisor on NHS organisation and commissioning, and policy assessor to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry, a member of the board of the UK Health Services Research Network and the European Health Management Association, and chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Commission on Models of Care.

A summary and recording of Judith’s inaugural lecture held in May 2016 is available online.

Tweets by @DrJudithSmith

Qualifications

PhD in Health Services Management, University of Birmingham (2009)
MBA in Business Administration, Open University Business School (1999)
Diploma in Health Services Management, Institute of Health Management (1990)
BA (Hons) in French Language and Literature, University of Birmingham (1987)

Biography

Judith's career has spanned the worlds of health management, policy and research, and she is driven by a commitment to bring the best research evidence to bear on the real-life problems faced by health care managers, practitioners and policy makers. As with the mission of HSMC, rigour and relevance drive her research, teaching and development activities.

In addition to her research and development work, she provides regular advice to the Department of Health (DH) and NHS England in relation to primary care, integrated care, health commissioning, and wider health policy issues. She also works closely with bodies such as the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing, National Voices, the NHS Alliance, the National Association of Primary Care, NHS Confederation, major health charities, and the medical royal colleges.

She regularly provides background briefings, write articles and prepare blogs for the print and on-line media. She has written recently for the Guardian, Health Service Journal, British Medical Journal News, and the Financial Times. She also regularly gives interviews to the media, and has appeared on BBC News, BBC News 24, The World Tonight, File on Four, Five Live News, and numerous BBC local news stations.

She has given oral evidence to the Health Select Committee of the House of Commons as part of inquiries into: public expenditure on health; the implementation of the Coalition Government’s health reforms; and care for people with long-term conditions. She gave oral evidence to the House of Lords 2013 Inquiry into the Inquiries Act, exploring her experience of being an expert adviser and assessor to the Francis Inquiry.

Podcasts/videos

What are the key issues facing pharmacy and pharmacists? Interview with Judith Smith: http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/talks/videos/what-are-key-issues-pharmacists-and-pharmacy
Hospital size and organisation across Europe, interview with Judith Smith: http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/talks/videos/judith-smith-hospital-organisation-and-size-across-europe
Enabling change in primary care, interview with Judith Smith: http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/talks/videos/judith-smith-enabling-change-primary-care
Appraising the evidence on commissioning, talk by Judith Smith: http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/talks/videos/judith-smith-appraising-evidence-commissioning
Mid-Staffordshire Public Inquiry Commissioning Seminar, interview with Judith Smith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPw4moEVBx4&feature=youtu.be
Mid-Staffordshire Public Inquiry Training and Development of Boards Seminar: interview with Judith Smith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfVNCWVEyHk&feature=youtu.be

Research

Judith's main research interests are: the organisation and management of primary care; long-term conditions and integrated care; health commissioning; the development and evaluation of health care organisation and service delivery; and health care management and culture. Current and recent projects include:

Co-investigator for a Department of Health Policy Research Programme two-year study of the changes made by NHS hospital boards in response to the Francis Inquiry (2015-2017)
Co-investigator for a Department of Health Policy Research Programme five-year evaluation of the National Integrated Care Pioneer Programme (led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 2015-2020)
Principal Investigator for the Evaluation of the North West London Integrated Care Programme funded by Imperial Health Care Partners and NW London CCGs (2014-2015) http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/our-work/projects/evaluation-north-west-london-whole-systems-integrated-care-programme
Principal Investigator (now consultant advisor to) a Nuffield Trust-funded two-year study of the impact of new models of primary care organisation in the NHS in England (2014-2016) http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/future-primary-care-and-general-practice
Principal Investigator for Nuffield Trust research study of the response made by hospitals in England to the Francis Inquiry (2013-2014) http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/publications/francis-inquiry-one-year-on
Principal Investigator for a National Institute of Health Research-funded study of the commissioning of care for people with long-term conditions (2010-2012) http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/our-work/projects/commissioning-long-term-conditions
Research into physician organisations in New Zealand and the USA, funded by the Nuffield Trust (2009-2012) http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/our-work/projects/independent-practitioner-associations-new-zealand-surviving-thrive

Other activities

Judith is a member of the following:

Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine
European Health Policy Group
UK Health Services Research Network
Australia and New Zealand Health Services Research Association
Commissioning Panel of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Health Services Delivery Research Programme
European Union DG SANCO panel on the future of primary care in the context of investing in health for the future (2013-14)

Publications

Recent publications

Book

Smith, J & Walshe, K (eds) 2016, Healthcare Management: 3rd edition. 3rd edn, Open University Press, Buckingham.

Article

Chambers, N, Smith, J, Proudlove, N, Thorlby, R, Kendrick, H & Mannion, R 2019, 'Roles and behaviours of diligent and dynamic healthcare boards', Health Services Management Research, vol. 32, no. 4. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0951484819887507

Smith, J & Chambers, N 2019, 'Mid-Staffordshire: a case study of failed governance and leadership?', The Political Quarterly, vol. 90, no. 2, pp. 194-201. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12698

Smith, J, Wistow, G, Holder, H & Gaskins, M 2019, 'Evaluating the design and implementation of the Whole Systems Integrated Care programme in North West London: why commissioning proved (again) to be the weakest link', BMC Health Services Research, vol. 19, 228. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4013-5

Smith, J & Gosling, J 2017, 'Moving on up: Women in healthcare leadership', Practice Management, vol. 27, no. 2. https://doi.org/10.12968/prma.2017.27.2.24

Chapter

Smith, J & Walshe, K 2016, Introduction: the current and future challenges of healthcare management. in K Walshe & J Smith (eds), Healthcare Management. 3rd edn, Open University Press, London, pp. 1-10.

Comment/debate

Mannion, R & Smith, J 2017, 'Hospital culture and clinical performance: where next?', BMJ Quality & Safety. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2017-007668

Commissioned report

Ignatowicz, A, Crump, H, Lasserson, D & Smith, J 2020, Strategy evidence review for the Birmingham and Solihull Sustainability and Transformation Partnership. Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group, Birmingham.

Chambers, N, Thorlby, R, Boyd, A, Smith, J, Proudlove, N, Kendrick, H & Mannion, R 2017, Responses to Francis: changes in board leadership and governance in acute hospitals in England since 2013. The Department of Health. <https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-social-sciences/social-policy/Publications-HSMC/Responses-to-Francis-report-January-2018.pdf>

Ellins, J, Griffith, L, Rosen, R, Miller, R, Brown, H & Smith, J 2017, Evaluation of the Connected Care Partnership Vanguard: Scoping and early findings report. NHS England.

Conference contribution

Chambers, N, Boyd, A, Proudlove, N, Smith, J, Mannion, R & Thorlby, R 2017, Research study on the learning from board-level leadership changes in acute hospitals following the Francis Inquiry. in HSRUK 2017 Presentations. HSRUK, Health Services Research UK Annual Symposium, Nottingham, 6/07/17.

Smith, J, Mannion, R, Chambers, N, Thorlby, R, Boyd, A, Proudlove, N & Kendrick, H 2017, Walking a tightrope? Using case study research to understand how hospital boards are managing the tension between constrained funding and patient safety. in HSRUK 2017 Presentations. HSRUK, Health Services Research UK Annual Symposium, Nottingham, 6/07/17.

Other

Smith, J, Chambers, N, Boyd, A, Proudlove, N, Thorlby, R, Mannion, R & Kendrick, H 2017, 'Well-led for Quality: Understanding the leadership changes made by NHS boards following the Francis Inquiry', NHS Providers Biennial Quality Conference, London, 8/06/17 - 8/06/17.

Paper

Smith, J 2016, 'The GP leader of the future: mission impossible?'.

Web publication/site

Street, A, Smith, J & Lorgelly, P, Is the crisis in the NHS as bad as the Red Cross says it is?, 2017, Web publication/site, The Conversation . <https://theconversation.com/is-the-crisis-in-the-nhs-as-bad-as-the-red-cross-says-it-is-70987>

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

An expert on the NHS, health policy, primary care and general practice, health funding and commissioning, healthcare leadership and management. Professor Smith is the Director of the Health Services Management Centre and was previously Director of Policy at the Nuffield Trust, an independent charitable health research foundation in London.

Expertise

Health and Social care

Professor Judith Smith is an expert on the NHS, health policy, primary care and general practice, health funding and commissioning, healthcare leadership and management.