CHSS is offering a 3 year (fulltime) or 5 year (part time) PhD studentship to undertake research in health services and evaluation based in the Centre commencing in September/October 2018.

We are looking for a student who is enthusiastic about health services research and can become part of the research endeavour within CHSS. Applicants will have completed a health-related postgraduate training course at Master’s level equivalent to merit or distinction with a substantial research training component (such as an ESRC recognised training course).

The studentship will cover tuition fees at the standard postgraduate home/EU rate plus an annual maintenance stipend £14,553 per annum (2017-2018 rate). In addition, there is an annual Research Training Support allowance of £750 to cover conference attendance, training courses, equipment and books.

Interested applicants should apply for a place via the University of Kent‘s online application system by Thursday 1 March 2018.

For further details see our Study with CHSS page.

Informal enquiries regarding the application process and studying for a PhD in CHSS should be made to Kalliopi Glezakou in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR).

CHSS Senior Research Fellow Dr Erica Gadsby works in public health, health policy and systems research.

In a new Guest blog published on the Royal Society for Public Health website, she discusses how the media’s focus on obesity is obscuring another concern affecting children in our poorer households: that of hunger.

**Erica will also feature in our next CHSS newsletter (out at the end of October), in the regular ‘CHSS People’ column.

Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex (HEKSS)/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Programme 2017-18 

CHSS (Centre for Health Services Studies), University of Kent is to become a new provider for the Health Education Kent Surrey Sussex (HEKSS)/National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Integrated Clinical Academic Programme (ICAP) 2017-18.

Funding has been awarded to the Centre to enable up to eight successful interns to receive a bespoke learning and development programme. HEKSS will award funding to support backfill cost, tuition fees and reasonable expenses.

Available to a range of health practitioners, the ICAP is intended to prepare applicants to apply for an NIHR MRes or Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship.

“We are so delighted to have been awarded this valuable funding! It means CHSS can now provide research training and development opportunities to a range of local health practitioners. The  programme will help the University to develop research capability and capacity across the south east region”.
CHSS Research Fellow Dr Ferhana Hashem (Intern Programme Leader)

Key Dates:

Applications close: Thursday 24 August 2017 (5pm)
Interviews:               Thursday 14 September 2017
Induction Day:         Thursday 12 October 2017
NB: Applicants must be able to attend both the interview and induction day   

University of Kent – FAQ for applicants 2017-18 ICAP (pdf)  
To discuss the programme please email: F.Hashem@kent.ac.uk

Find out more on the Health Education England website >

There was a packed house at the Gulbenkian Theatre for last night’s CHSS-hosted health policy debate.

Whatever their political leanings, all who came along were clearly passionate about future health and social care services in our region, and at national level.

We are extremely grateful to all the brave Parliamentary candidates who came along to face a barrage of questions from an animated audience, on topics including funding the NHS, privatisation and mental health services.

The panel was chaired by CHSS Director Prof Stephen Peckham, and the candidates were:

• Sir Julian Brazier, Conservative 
• Rosie Duffield, Labour 
• James Flanagan, Liberal Democrat
• Henry Stanton, Green 

If you weren’t lucky enough to be there, you can watch the whole event or listen online (brought to you in collaboration with KTV and CSRfm).

There was also lots of Twitter activity during the debate and you can follow the #CHSSge17 action on Storify.

There will be more about this highly successful event in our next CHSS newsletter, out at the end of July.

On Wednesday evening CHSS Director Prof Stephen Peckham spoke on ‘Air Quality in Canterbury; what we know and what we need to know’ at Canterbury Christ Church University. The event – hosted by the Sustainability Research Network – took place at the Old Sessions House, Canterbury.

Air pollution is a major public health problem and Canterbury already breaches national limits for nitrogen dioxide and ozone – both of which are associated with traffic emissions. With new developments the situation is likely to get worse unless we find new solutions. CHSS is currently undergoing a local pilot project to measure air quality in the city, explore the associated health impacts of poor air quality and outline ideas for tackling the issue.

Find out more about the project, in our recent CHSS newsletter (see p3)

CHSS staff and PhD students were among the many attendees of the U3A/University of Kent Research Showcase on 23 May in the Gulbenkian Foyer. More than a hundred members of the Canterbury and District branch of the University of the Third Age were welcomed, to share research projects, posters and performances, and find out about areas for future partnerships.

There was a strong contingent of postgraduates presenting their work in an accessible format, and input from academic staff from across many disciplines. The event showcased a wide range of research and there were performances from the U3A choir.

CHSS Public Engagement Officer Dr Amanda Bates chaired a session on Health and Memories and Dr Ferhana Hashem presented on Physiotherapy, Haemophilia and Child Health. Our PhD students Vanessa Abrahamson, Rowena Bicknall and Aida Malovic were among those displaying research posters.

The event was followed by a wine reception with the signing of a memorandum of understanding.

Research Showcase Final Programme

Where does accountability lie within the NHS? CHSS Visiting Professor Bob Hudson writes that the current ways of the healthcare system make public scrutiny and citizen accountability opaque and increasingly incomprehensible to outsiders. He argues that engaging with citizens is key to giving the healthcare debate legitimacy.

For the past forty years, Professor Hudson has been a well-known political commentator and leading academic in the field of integrated care. He became an Honorary member of CHSS in 2015 and is currently working with Professors Stephen Peckham and Jenny Billings.

In this blog post he argues that the current ways of the healthcare system make public scrutiny and citizen accountability opaque and increasingly incomprehensible to outsiders. He believes that engaging with citizens is key to giving the healthcare debate legitimacy.

Read the blog here