School of Social and Political Science

Background

Chair of Public Policy and Citizenship

Qualifications

• BSc (Hons) in Management Sciences (Manchester)
• PhD (Manchester)

Previous Posts

School Director of Equality and Diversity ; Chair of the People+ Committee (2015 - 2019)

Chair of the Athena Swan self-assessment team (2015 - 2018)

School Promotions Committee (2013 - 2017)

Postgraduate Adviser and Director of the PhD and MSc by Research programmes for Politics and International Relations (2010 - 2012).

College Associate Dean for Admissions (2007 - 2009).

I joined the Department in 1997 from the University of Wales, Cardiff, where I was Lecturer in Quantitative Methods at Cardiff Business School (1985-1996). I previously held research posts in the Greater London Association of Community Health Councils (1984-85), the University of Manchester (1979-1984), UMIST (1979) and Stockport Social Services Division (1978-79).

Current Research

I am a Co-Investigator, alongside Prof Stewart Mercer (PI), Prof Bruce Guthrie, Prof Martyn Pickersgill, Dr Ellen Stewart (UoE Usher Institute, CMVM) and Prof Harry Wang (Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China) on Transforming Primary Care in Scotland and China to meet the needs of an ageing population - are health inequalities being tackled? funded by the ESRC (UK) and the NSFC (China).

I am a Co-Investigator (with Prof Hussein Kassim (UEA), Dr Sara Connolly (UEA), Prof Renaud Dehousse (EUI, Florence), Professor Brigid Laffan (EUI, Florence) and Prof Michael Bauer (Speyer)) on research projects investigating all European Commission officials' views and understandings of their organisation in the period since the financial crash in 2008, as well as the views of officials in the European Council since 2013.

Recent previous research, teaching developments and external involvement

A member of the 'Our Voice' Programe Board of Healthcare Improvement Scotland/Scottish Health Council. I was also a member of the Scottish Government Oversight Panel for the Citizens' Jury on shared decision-making in health care (2018-2019).

A member of the Q-Step Management Committee for the recent award of M£1.4 from the Nuffield Foundation, the ESRC and HEFCE to develop and enhance the level of quantitative skills across the undergraduate social science curricula in the university.

A team member for a research project, sponsored by the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation and ClimateXChange, investigating public attitudes towards onshore wind farms, through the use of the deliberative engagement method of citizen juries.

Co-Investigator on a project to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching fundamental skills to 1st year undergraduate students, funded by the Principal's Teaching Award Scheme.

An expert member of the research team for a European Union-FP7 project (2009-2012) called 'Deepening our understanding of quality improvement in Europe' (DUQuE), co-ordinated through the Autonomous University of Barcelona. The research investigated the link between quality strategies in hospitals and patient outcomes in around 300 hospitals across 8 European countries.

A member of the Executive Committee and led the Teaching Development Group (2009-2012) of the Applied Quantitative Methods Network (AQMeN), an ESRC/SFC jointly funded initiative concerned with developing the quantitative skills of researchers in higher education institutions and the public, voluntary and private sectors in Scotland: www.aqmen.ac.uk.

A team member and grant holder (with Prof Hussein Kassim (UEA) and Prof John Peterson (Edinburgh)) for an investigation of the attitudes and beliefs of officials in the European Commission, funded by the ESRC.

A co-investigator on 2 NHS SDO-funded projects on Patient Choice, one concerned with comparative policy across the 4 nations of the UK (with colleagues in the Universities of London (School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), Swansea, Dundee, St Andrews, and Queens, Belfast) and the other focussed on information needs for 5 health conditions (with colleagues in the Universities of Stirling, Dundee, Glasgow and Oxford).

My Edinburgh Research Explorer profile can be accessed here: http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/andrew-thompson%28e12cb8….

Recent Publications

Donaghy E, Huang H, Henderson D, Wang, HHX, Guthrie B, Thompson A and Mercer S (2022). Primary care transformation in Scotland: qualitative evaluation of the views of national senior stakeholders and cluster quality leads. British Journal of General Practice. https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0186.

Thompson AGH, Escobar O, Roberts JJ, Elstub S and Pamphilis NM (2021). The importance of context and the effect of information and deliberation on opinion change regarding environmental issues in citizens’ juries. Sustainability, 13(17), 9852. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179852.

Thompson AGH (2020). Contextualising co-production and co-governance in the Scottish National Health Service. Journal of Chinese Governance, 5 (1): 48-67. DOI: 10.1080/23812346.2019.1689035.

Escobar O and Thompson A (2019). Mixed methods research in democratic innovation. In: Elstub S and Escobar O, Handbook of Democratic Innovation and Governance, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham.

Norris R, Thompson A and Steel D (2018). Deliberative engagement: giving citizen involvement meaning and impact. In: Braithwaite J, Mannion R, Matsuyama Y, Shekelle P, Whittaker S, Al-Adawi A, Future Directions for 21st Century Health Systems: A Global Perspective on Reform, Development and Improvement. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.

Thompson A and Steel D (2017). Partnership and collaboration as the hallmark of Scottish healthcare improvement. In Braithwaite J, Shekelle P, Matsuyama Y and Mannion R (eds), Health Systems Improvement across the Globe: Success Stories from 60 Countries. Taylor Frances, Abingdon.

Groene O, Arah OA, Klazinga NS, Wagner C, Bartels PD, Kristensen S, Saillour-Glenisson F, Thompson A, Thompson CA, Pfaff H, DerSarkissian M and Sunol R (2015). Patient experience shows little relationship with hospital quality management strategies. PLOS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0131805.

Thompson A and Steel D (2015). Scotland. In Braithwaite J, Matsuyama Y, Mannion R and Johnson J (eds), Healthcare reform, quality and safety: perspectives, participants, partnerships and prospects in 30 countries. Ashgate, Farnham.

Groene O, Suñol R, Klazinga NS, Wang A, Dersarkissian M, Thompson CA, Thompson A and Arah OA on behalf of the DUQuE Project Consortium (2014). Involvement of patients or their representatives in quality management functions in EU hospitals: implementation and impact on patient-centred care strategies. International Journal for Quality in Health Care. DoI: 10.1093/intqhc/mzu022.

Ramsay P, Huby G, Thompson A and Walsh T (2014). Intensive care survivors’ experiences of ward based care: Meleis’ theory of nursing transitions and role development among critical care outreach services. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 23(5-6): 605-615.

Kassim H, Peterson J, Bauer MW, Connolly S, Dehousse R, Hooghe L and Thompson A (2013). The European Commission of the Twenty-First Century. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Dehousse R and Thompson A (2012).  Intergovernmentalists in the Commission. In Brack N and Costa O (eds), Euroscepticism within the EU Institutions: Diverging Views of Europe. Routledge, Abingdon.

Peckham S, Mays N, Hughes D, Sanderson M, Allen P, Prior L, Entwistle V, Thompson A and Davies H (2012). Devolution and patient choice: policy rhetoric versus experience in practice. Social Policy & Administration, 46 (2), 199-218.

Dehousse R and Thompson A (2012).  Intergovernmentalists in the Commission: foxes in the henhouse? Journal of European Integration, 34:2, 113-132.

Entwistle VA, France EF, Wyke S, Jepson R, Hunt K, Ziebland S and Thompson A (2011). How information about other people's personal experiences can help with healthcare decision-making: A qualitative study. Patient Education and Counseling, 85 (3), e291-e298.

Groene O, Mora N, Thompson A, Saez M, Casas M and Suñol R (2011). Is the maturity of hospitals' quality improvement systems associated with measures of quality and patient safety? BMC Health Services Research; 11:344.

Groene O, Klazinga N, Wagner C, Onyebuchi A, Thompson A, Bruneau C and Suñol R (2010).  Investigating organizational quality improvement systems, patient empowerment, organizational culture, professional involvement and the quality of care in European hospitals: the 'Deepening our Understanding of Quality Improvement in Europe (DUQuE)' project.  BMC Health Services Research; 10:281.

Thompson AGH and France EF (2010).  One stop or full stop? The continuing challenges for researchers despite the new streamlined NHS research governance process. BMC Health Services Research; 10:124.

Suñol R,Vallejo P, Thompson A, Lombarts MJMH, Shaw CD and Klazinga N (2009). Impact of quality strategies on hospital outputs. Quality and Safety in Health Care;18, i62-i68. http://qshc.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/Suppl_1/i62?etoc.

Groene O, Lombarts MJMH, Klazinga N, Alonso J, Thompson A and Suñol R (2009). Is patient-centredness in European hospitals related to existing quality improvement strategies: analysis of a cross sectional survey (MARQuIS Study). Quality and Safety in Health Care, 18, i44-i50. http://qshc.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/Suppl_1/i44?etoc.

R Suñol, P Vallejo, O Groene, G Escaramis, A Thompson, B Kutryba, and P Garel (2009). Implementation of patient safety strategies in European hospitals. Quality and Safety in Health Care, 18, i57-i61. http://qshc.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/Suppl_1/i57?etoc.

Thompson AGH (2007). The meaning of patient involvement and participation in health care consultations: a taxonomy. Social Science and Medicine. 64 (6), 1297-1310.

Collins S, Britten N, Ruusuvuori J and Thompson A (eds) (2007). Patient participation in health care consultations. Open University Press.

Jepson R, Hewison J, Thompson A and Weller D (2007). Patient perspectives on information and choice in cancer screening: a qualitative study in the UK. Social Science and Medicine. 65, 890-899.

Huby G, Stewart J, Thompson A, Tierney A (2007). Capturing the concealed: methodological issues in the study of older patients’ participation in decision-making about dicharge after acute hospitalisation. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 21 (1), 55-67.

Bikker A and Thompson AGH (2006).Predicting and comparing patient satisfaction in four different modes of health care across a nation. Social Science and Medicine, 63 (6), 1671-1683. Q

Quintana JM, Gonzalez N, Bilbao A, Aizpuru F, Escobar A, Esteban C, San Sebastian JA, de la Sierra E and Thompson A (2006). Predictors of patient satisfaction with hospital health care. BMC Health Services Research, 6:102 (30pp) (doi:10.1186/1472-6963-6-102).

Jepson RG, Hewison J, Thompson A, Weller D (2005). How should we measure informed choice? The case of cancer screening. Journal of Medical Ethics, 31, 192-196.

González N, Quintana JM, Bilbao A, Escobar A, Aizpuru F, Thompson A, Esteban C, San Sebastián JA and de la Sierra E (2005). Development and validation of an in-patient satisfaction questionnaire. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 17 (6), 465-472.

Thompson AGH (2004). Moving beyond the rhetoric of citizen involvement: strategies for enablement. Eurohealth, 9 (4), 5-8.

West RR, McNabb R, Thompson AGH, Sheldon TA and Grimley Evans J (2003). Estimating implied rates of discount in healthcare decision-making. Health Technology Assessment, 7 (38), 1-55. http://www.hta.nhsweb.nhs.uk/fullmono/mon738.pdf

Thompson AGH (2003). Questioning practices in health care research: the contribution of social surveys to the creation of knowledge. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 15 (3), 187-188.

Research Interests

My main research interests are in the field of citizenship and public policy, particularly in relation to health services. This includes the politics of health care, public participation in health care, perception and satisfaction measurement, and quality management.  Additionally, I am continuing to work on analysing the attitudes and beliefs of officials who work in the European Commission and European Council.

Publications include a range of articles on these research topics, a book on the European Commission (2013), as well as book chapters on patient involvement in health care consultations, the tension between citizen and consumer metaphors for patients and the measurement of patient satisfaction.

Since 2000 I have held research awards for the Department of Health on 'Health in Partnership', the Chief Scientist's Office in the Health Department of the Scottish Executive on 'Shared decision-making in discharge and post-discharge care of elderly patients'. I have also participated in a multi-site NHS project on 'Discounting and Health', a project with the Catalan Government on developing citizen involvement in health services, and a project with the Basque health services developing measures of patient satisfaction. Recently I was a statistical adviser to an EU research project on cross-border care (MARQuIS), as well as Research Director of a Catalan study of public involvement in health service policy and planning.

I was European Editor of the International Journal for Quality in Health Care for 7 years from 1998 to 2004, and continued as a member of the Editorial Board until 2009. During 2009-2010 I was on sabbatical in Catalonia working with the Avedis Donabedian Research Institute of the Autonomous University of Barcelona on citizen-centred quality in health care.

PhD and MSc by Research Supervision

Current PhD students:

Helen Patterson: Prioritising prevention in Scottish health and social care: cost-effectiveness, spending implications, policy challenges and funding options.

Membership of academic societies

• Political Studies Association (UK)
• PSA Participatory and Deliberative Democracy Specialist Group
• PSA Quantitative Methods Network
• European Consortium for Political Research
• European Political Science Association