Professor James Ward

Research group: Health Systems Design
 

Biography

• BEng, Manufacturing Engineering, Warwick University
• CEng, Engineering Council
• PhD, University of Cambridge

James is a Chartered Engineer with a degree in Engineering from the University of Warwick and a PhD in medical device design from the University of Cambridge. With a background in industry (Cambridge Consultants, Cambridge and Sofraco Engineering, Australia) he joined the University of Cambridge as a postdoctoral researcher in 2002.

James helped set up a new part-time three-year course on Healthcare Innovation, run by the Department of Engineering. The course aims to equip people from a range of backgrounds with the practical skills to innovate successfully in healthcare. He is Course Director and teaches on one of the units.

His research involves applying the learning from fields such as engineering design, systems engineering, safety engineering and ergonomics to the National Health Service, for quality improvement and novel design. Past projects include minimising never events involving retained surgical instruments, a risk assessment of a major trauma network, evaluating a new product range of packaging and labelling for a pharmaceutical manufacturer and, currently, the design of an intervention to increase engagement in pulmonary rehabilitation services.

The Centre for Engineering Better Care is located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus to act as a catalyst for projects and teaching that bridge the gap between engineering and clinical care. The CEBC works closely with CUH’s Clinical Engineering Innovation team and also with local industry. James set up the Centre and manages its day to day running.

Selected publications

Early, F., Ward, J., Komashie, A., Kipouros, T., Clarkson, J., & Fuld, J. (2024). A systems approach to developing user requirements for increased pulmonary rehabilitation uptake by COPD patients.. NPJ Prim Care Respir Med, 34(1), 20. DOI: 10.1038/s41533-024-00370-1

Komashie, A., Ward, J., Bashford, T., Dickerson, T., Kaya, G. K., Liu, Y., . . . Clarkson, P. J. (2021). Systems approach to health service design, delivery and improvement: a systematic review and meta-analysis.. BMJ Open, 11(1), e037667. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037667

Early, F., Wilson, P. M., Deaton, C., Wellwood, I., Haque, H. W., Fox, S. E., . . . Fuld, J. P. (2020). Pulmonary rehabilitation referral and uptake from primary care for people living with COPD: a mixed-methods study.. ERJ Open Res, 6(1). DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00219-2019

Kaya, G. K., Ward, J., & Clarkson, J. (2019). A Review of Risk Matrices Used in Acute Hospitals in England.. Risk Anal, 39(5), 1060-1070. DOI: 10.1111/risa.13221

Clarkson, J., Dean, J., Ward, J., Komashie, A., & Bashford, T. (2018). A systems approach to healthcare: from thinking to -practice.. Future Healthc J, 5(3), 151-155. DOI: 10.7861/futurehosp.5-3-151

Kaya, G., Ward, J. R., & Clarkson, P. J. (2018). A framework to support risk assessment in hospitals. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 2018. DOI: 10.1093/intqhc/mzy194

Chatzimichailidou, M. M., Ward, J. R., Horberry, T., & Clarkson, P. J. (2018). A Comparison of the Bow-Tie and STAMP Approaches to Reduce the Risk of Surgical Instrument Retention. Risk Analysis. DOI: 10.1111/risa.12897

Jun, G.T., Canham, A., Altuna-Palacios, A., Ward, J.R., Bhamra, R., Rogers, S. Dutt, A. & Shah, P. (2018) ‘A participatory systems approach to design for safer integrated medicine management’ in Ergonomics, 61(1), 48-68. DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2017.1329939

Simsekler, M.C.E., Ward, J.R., And Clarkson, P.J. (2018) ‘Design for Patient Safety: A systems-based risk identification framework’ in Ergonomics, 61(8), 1046-1064. DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2018.1437224