UK primary care expert takes up Elaine Gurr Chair

UK primary care expert takes up Elaine Gurr Chair in General Practice

A leading UK academic general practitioner, Professor Tim Stokes, has this month taken up the Elaine Gurr Chair of General Practice at the University of Otago’s Dunedin School of Medicine.

Professor Stokes comes to the Department of General Practice and Rural Health from the University of Birmingham, where he was senior clinical lecturer in Primary Care.

In the UK he established a national profile in health care quality improvement research and development through more than a decade of influential work with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

In his work with NICE, initially through a clinical senior lectureship at the University of Leicester, and from 2006-2013 in a senior leadership role at the institute, Professor Stokes has focused on developing clinical practice guidelines, quality standards and performance measures.

In addition to his health care quality improvement focus, which includes studying how research evidence can best be embedded into routine clinical practice, his second research interest is GP-patient relations, including continuity of care and ‘difficult’ doctor-patient relationships.

Professor Stokes has published more than 50 research and quality improvement papers in peer-reviewed journals, including the BMJ, and has also developed and delivered international training courses on evidence-based quality improvement.

His qualifications include a BA (Hons) from Oxford, a MPhil from Cambridge, a MBChB from Edinburgh, a Master of Public Health from the University of Nottingham and a PhD in Health Services Research from the University of Leicester.

In tandem with his academic and public health career, Professor Stokes has been a GP in the UK for over 20 years and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

University Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne warmly welcomed Professor Stokes to Otago, saying that he brings a wealth of skills and knowledge to the professorial position.

“Our Department of General Practice and Rural Health plays an important role in educating New Zealand’s GP workforce and pursuing research that informs primary care provision, policy development and implementation. Professor Stokes’ impressive background places him well to make significant contributions to the already vibrant research and teaching culture of this Department,” Professor Hayne says.

Professor Stokes says he is delighted to have been appointed to the oldest chair in general practice in New Zealand and to have joined a department that values excellence in both medical education and research.

“I’m looking forward to both working with colleagues across the Dunedin School of Medicine and the wider health community to strengthen the department’s research portfolio in health care quality improvement and getting established as a part-time GP in a local practice,” Professor Stokes says.

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