Health Sciences

Catherine Pope

BA (Hons), PhD

Primary position:
Professor of Medical Sociology

Background

Applied theory and research tackling the ‘wicked problems’ surrounding how best to organize and deliver modern healthcare

Focus on health professions and everyday healthcare practice, and the impacts of policy and organisational change on these.

Internationally recognised expert on qualitative research in health care – changing the way a profession thinks about and conducts research

Applied and relevant research, working successfully across disciplinary boundaries and linking with clinical practice

Memberships and distinctions

NHS Confederation Health Services Research Network Board 2008 -
Co-Editor, Sociology 2006-2009
Co-Director, Work Futures Research Centre
Co-Director, Digital Economy University Strategic Research Group

 

Professor Catherine Pope's photo

"Currently occupied combining sociology and ethnography to explore urgent and emergency care, decision-making, communication and technologies in use."

Publications

The University of Southampton's electronic library (e-prints)

Article

Halford, Susan, Pope, Catherine and Weal, Mark J. (2013) Digital futures? sociological challenges and opportunities in the emergent semantic web. Sociology, 47, (1), 173-189. (doi:10.1177/0038038512453798 ).
Langridge, N., Roberts, L. and Pope, C. (2013) The place of ‘gut feeling’ in clinical reasoning. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 95B, supplement 17
Brindle, Lucy, Pope, Catherine, Corner, Jessica, Banerjee, Anindo and Leydon, Geraldine M. (2012) Eliciting symptoms interpreted as normal by patients with early-stage lung cancer: could GP elicitation of normalised symptoms reduce delay in diagnosis? Cross-sectional interview study. BMJ Open, 2, (6), e001977-[12pp]. (doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001977). (PMID:23166137).
Bridges , Jackie, Nicholson, Caroline, Maben, Jill, Pope, Catherine, Flately, Mary, Wilkinson, Charlotte, Meyer, Julienne and Tziggili, Maria (2012) Capacity for care: meta-ethnography of acute care nurses’ experiences of the nurse-patient relationship. Journal of Advanced Nursing (doi:10.1111/jan.12050). (PMID:23163719).
Bridges, Jackie, Griffiths, Peter, Pope, Catherine and Bartlett, Ruth (2012) Editorial: failure to rescue: improving nursing care for older people. International Journal of Older People Nursing, 7, (1), 1-2. (doi:10.1111/j.1748-3743.2012.0315_.x).
Turnbull, Joanne, Prichard, Jane, Pope, Catherine, Halford, Susan and Salisbury, Chris (2012) Reconfiguring the emergency and urgent care workforce: mixed methods study of skills and the everyday work of non-clinical call-handlers in the NHS. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy (doi:10.1258/jhsrp.2012.011141). (PMID:23024183).
Braithwaite, Jeffrey, Westbrook, Johanna and Johnston, Brian et al. (2011) Strengthening organizational performance through accreditation research - a framework for twelve interrelated studies: the ACCREDIT project study protocol. BMC Research Notes, 4, (390) (doi:10.1186/1756-0500-4-390). (PMID:21981910).
Turnbull, Joanne, Pope, Catherine, Martin, David and Lattimer, Valerie (2011) Management of out-of-hours calls by a general practice cooperative: A geographical analysis of telephone access and consultation. Family Practice (doi:10.1093/fampra/cmr029). (PMID:21596692).
Turnbull, J., Pope, C., Martin, D. and Lattimer, V. (2010) Do telephones overcome geographical barriers to general practice out-of-hours services? Mixed methods study of parents with young children. Journal of Health Services Research and Policy, 15, (1), 21-27. (doi:10.1258/jhsrp.2009.009023). (PMID:19843639).
Murray, Elizabeth, Treweek, Shaun, Pope, Catherine, MacFarlane, Anne, Ballini, Luciana, Dowrick, Christopher, Finch, Tracy, Kennedy, Anne, Mair, Frances, O'Donnell, Catherine, Ong, Bie Nio, Rapley, Tim, Rogers, Anne and May, Carl (2010) Normalisation process theory: a framework for developing, evaluating and implementing complex interventions. BMC Medicine, 8, (1), 63. (doi:10.1186/1741-7015-8-63).
Pope, Catherine and Mays, Nicholas (2009) Critical reflections on the rise of qualitative research. British Medical Journal, 339, (b3425), 737-739. (doi:10.1136/bmj.b3425).
Smith, A.F., Pope, C., Goodwin, D. and Mort, M. (2008) Interprofessional handover and patient safety in anaesthesia: observational study of handovers in the recovery room. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 101, (3), 332-337. (doi:10.1093/bja/aen168). (PMID:18556692).
Gunn, J.M., Palmer, V.J., Naccarella, L., Kokanovic, R., Pope, C.J., Lathlean, J. and Stange, K.C. (2008) The promise and pitfalls of generalism in achieving the Alma-Ata vision of health for all. Medical Journal of Australia, 189, (2), 110-112.
Gerard, Karen, Salisbury, Chris, Street, Deborah and Pope, Catherine (2008) Is fast access to general practice all that should matter? A discrete choice experiment of patients’ preferences. Journal of Health Services and Research Policy, 13, supplement 2, 3-10. (doi:10.1258/jhsrp.2007.007087).
Barley, Madeline, Pope, Catherine, Chilvers, Rupatharshini, Sipos, Attila and Harrison, Glynn (2008) Guidelines or mindlines? A qualitative study exploring what knowledge informs psychiatrists decisions about antipsychotic prescribing. Journal of Mental Health, 17, (1), 9-17. (doi:10.1080/09638230701498358).
Pope, C., Banks, J., Salisbury, C. and Lattimer, V. (2008) Improving access to primary care: eight case studies of introducing advanced access in England. Journal of Health Services Research and Policy, 13, (1), 33-39. (doi:10.1258/jhsrp.2007.007039).
Carlsen, Benedicte, Glenton, Claire and Pope, Catherine (2007) Thou shalt versus thou shalt not: a meta-synthesis of GPs' attitudes to clinical practice guidelines. British Journal of General Practice, 57, (545), 971-978. (doi:10.3399/096016407782604820).
Salisbury, Chris, Banks, Jon, Goodall, Stephen, Baxter, Helen, Montgomery, Alan, Pope, Catherine, Gerard, Karen, Simons, Lucy, Lattimer, Val, Sampson, Fiona, Pickin, Mark, Edwards, Sarah, Smith, Helen and Boudioni, Markella (2007) An evaluation of advanced access in general practice. National Co-ordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation
Smith, A.F., Pope, C., Goodwin, D. and Mort, M. (2006) What defines expertise in regional anaesthesia? An observational analysis of practice. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 97, (3), 401-407. (doi:10.1093/bja/ael175).
Pope, Catherine, Robert, Glenn, Bate, Paul, Le May, Andrée and Gabbay, John (2006) Lost in translation: a multi-level case study of the metamorphosis of meanings and action in public sector organizational innovation. Public Administration, 84, (1), 59-79. (doi:10.1111/j.0033-3298.2006.00493.x).
Pope, Catherine, Mays, Nicholas and Popay, Jenny (2006) Informing policy making and management in healthcare: The place for synthesis. Healthcare Policy, 1, (2), 43-48. (PMID:19305652).
Smith, A.F., Goodwin, D., Mort, M. and Pope, C. (2006) Adverse events in anaesthetic practice: qualitative study of definition, discussion and reporting. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 96, (6), 715-721. (doi:10.1093/bja/ael099).
Frost, J., Pope, C., Liebling, R. and Murphy, D. (2006) Utopian theory and the discourse of natural birth. Social Theory & Health, 4, (4), 299-318. (doi:10.1057/palgrave.sth.8700076).
Pope, C., Mays, N. and Popay, J. (2006) How can we synthesize qualitative and quantitative evidence for healthcare policy-makers and managers? Healthcare Management FORUM Gestion des soins de santé, 27-31.
Smith, Lucy K., Pope, Catherine and Botha, Johannes L. (2005) Patients' help-seeking experiences and delay in cancer presentation: a qualitative synthesis. Lancet, 366, (9488), 825-831. (doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67030-4).
Goodwin, D., Pope, C., Mort, M. and Smith, A. (2005) Access, boundaries and their effects: legitimate participation in anaesthesia. Sociology of Health and Illness, 27, (6), 855-871. (doi:10.1111/j.1467-9566.2005.00477.x).
Pound, P., Britten, N., Morgan, M., Yardley, L., Pope, C., Daker-White, G. and Campbell, R. (2005) Resisting medicines: a synthesis of qualitative studies of medicine taking. Social Science & Medicine, 61, (1), 133-155. (doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.11.063).
Pope, Catherine (2003) Resisting evidence: the study of evidence-based medicine as a contemporary social movement. Health, 7, (3), 267-282. (doi:10.1177/1363459303007003002).
Smith, A., Goodwin, D., Mort, M. and Pope, C. (2003) Encouraging expertise in the use of monitoring. Journal of Education in Perioperative Medicine, V, (II)
Smith, A.F., Mort, M.M., Pope, C. and Goodwin, D (2002) How do anaesthetists react to abnormal monitor readings? An observational study. European Journal of Anaesthesiology, 19, supplement 24, 12.
Pope, C. (2002) Contingency in everyday surgical work. Sociology of Health and Illness, 24, (4), 369-384. (doi:10.1111/1467-9566.00300).
Mort, M., Goodwin, D., Pope, C. and Smith, A. (2002) Developing and maintaining anaesthetic expertise: the place of observational methods. European Journal of Anaesthesiology, 19, (Suppl 24), p13.
Smith, A.F., Goodwin, D., Mort, M. and Pope, C. (2001) Making explicit anaesthetic expertise: methodological consideration and subjects' perceptions. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 87, (4), 654-655. (Submitted).
Black, N.A., Bowling, A., Griffiths, J.M., Pope, C. and Abel, P.D. (1998) Impact of surgery for stress incontinence on the social lives of women. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 105, (6), 605 - 612. (doi:10.1111/j.1471-0528.1998.tb10174.x). (PMID:9647150).
Griffiths, Joanne M., Black, Nicholas A., Pope, Catherine, Stanley, Jenny, Bowling, Ann and Abel, Paul D. (1998) What determines the choice of procedure in stress incontinence surgery? The use of multilevel modeling. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, 14, (3), Summer Issue, 431 - 445. (doi:10.1017/S0266462300011417). (PMID:9780530).
Black, Nick, Griffiths, Joanne, Pope, Catherine, Bowling, Ann and Abel, Paul (1997) Impact of surgery for stress incontinence on morbidity: a cohort study. BMJ, 315, (7121), 1493 - 1498. (doi:10.1136/bmj.315.7121.1493 ). (PMID:9420489).
Black, N. A., Griffiths, J. M., Pope, C., Stanley, J., Bowling, A. and Abel, P. D. (1996) Sociodemographic and symptomatic characteristics of women undergoing stress incontinence surgery in the UK. British Journal of Urology, 78, (6), 847 - 855. (doi:10.1046/j.1464-410X.1996.02607.x). (PMID:9014707).

Book

Pope, Catherine, Mays, Nick and Popay, Jennie (2007) Synthesizing qualitative and quantitative health research: a guide to methods, UK, Open University Press, 224pp.

Book Section

Pope, C., le May, A. and Gabbay, J. (2009) People, place and innovation: how organisational culture and physical environment shaped the implementation of the NHS TC Programme. In, Braithwaite, Jeffrey, Hyde, Paula and Pope, Catherine (eds.) Culture and Climate in Healthcare Organisations. Basingstoke, UK, Palgrave Macmillan.
Hyde, P., Pope, C. and Braithwaite, J. (2009) Conclusion: culture and climate in health care organizations: evidentiary, conceptual and practical progress. In, Culture and Climate in Health Care Organizations. Basingstoke, GB, Palgrave, 208-212.
Pope, Catherine, Braithwaite, Jeffrey and Hyde, Paula (2009) Introduction: why focus on culture and climate? In, Pope, Catherine, Braithwaite, Jeffrey and Hyde, Paula (eds.) Culture and Climate in Health Care Organizations. Basingstoke, GB, Palgrave Macmillan, 1-3.
Smith, A., Pope, C., Goodwin, D. and Mort, M. (2009) Teams, talk and transitions in anaesthetic practice. In, Flin, Rhona and MItchell, Lucy (eds.) Safer Surgery: Anaylsing Behaviour in the Operating Theatre. Farnham, UK, Ashgate.
Pope, Catherine, le May, Andrée and Gabbay, John (2008) Chasing chameleons, chimeras and caterpillars: evaluating an organizational innovation in the National Health Service. In, McKee, Lorna, Ferlie, Ewan and Hyde, Paula (eds.) Organizing and Reorganizing: Power and Change in Health Care Organizations. Basingstoke, UK, Palgrave Macmillan, 112-122.
Pope, C.J., Mort, M., Goodwin, D. and Smith, A. (2007) Anaesthetic talk in surgical encounters. In, Iedema, Rick (ed.) The Discourse of Hospital Communication: Tracing Complexities in Contemporary Health Organisations. Basingstoke, UK, Palgrave Macmillan, 161-181.
Pope, Catherine and Mays, Nicholas (2006) Synthesising qualitative research. In, Pope, Catherine and Mays, Nicholas (eds.) Qualitative Research in Health Care, 3rd Edition. UK, Blackwell, 142-156.
Pope, Catherine and Mays, Nicholas (2006) Observational methods. In, Pope, Catherine and Mays, Nicholas (eds.) Qualitative Research in Health Care, 3rd Edition. UK, Blackwell, 32-42.
Pope, Catherine and Mays, Nicholas (2006) Qualitative methods in health research. In, Pope, Catherine and Mays, Nicholas (eds.) Qualitative Research in Health Care, 3rd Edition. UK, Blackwell, 1-11.
Mays, Nicholas, Pope, Catherine and Ziebland, Sue (2006) Analysing qualitative data. In, Pope, Catherine and Mays, Nicholas (eds.) Qualitative Research in Health Care, 3rd Edition. UK, Blackwell, 63-81.
Mays, Nicholas and Pope, Catherine (2006) Quality in qualitative health research. In, Pope, Catherine and Mays, Nicholas (eds.) Qualitative Research in Health Care, 3rd Edition. UK, Blackwell, 82-101.

Conference or Workshop Item

Tinati, Ramine, Carr, Les, Halford, Susan and Pope, Catherine (2012) Exploring the Impact of Adopting Open Data in the UK Government. In, Digital Futures 2012, Aberdeen, GB, 3pp.
Sugiura, Lisa, Pope, Catherine, Weal, Mark J. and Webber, Craig (2012) Observing deviancy online. At Digital Research 2012, Oxford, GB, 10 - 12 Sep 2012. 4pp.
Sugiura, Lisa, Pope, Catherine and Webber, Craig (2012) Buying unlicensed slimming drugs from the Web: a virtual ethnography. At Web Science Conference 2012, Chicago, US, 22 - 24 Jun 2012. 4pp.
Tinati, Ramine, Halford, Susan, Carr, Les and Pope, Catherine (2012) Mixing Methods and Theory to Explore Web Activity. In, Third Annual Web Science Conference (WebSci2012), Evanston, US, 9pp.
Tinati, Ramine, Halford, Susan, Carr, Leslie and Pope, Catherine (2012) Using mixed methods to track the growth of the Web: tracing open government data initiatives. At World Wide Web 2012 (Web Science Track), Lyon, FR, 16 - 20 Apr 2012. 6pp.
Tinati, Ramine, Halford, Susan, Carr, Leslie and Pope, Catherine (2011) Exploring the UK Open-PSI community. In, SharePSI: Removing the Roadblocks to a Pan European Market for Public Sector Information Re-Use, Brussels, BE, 09 - 10 May 2011. 4pp.
Carr, Leslie, Pope, Cathy and Halford, Susan (2010) Could the Web be a temporary glitch? In, WebSci10: Extending the Frontiers of Society On-Line, Raleigh, US, 26 - 27 Apr 2010. 6pp.
Halford, Susan, Pope, Cathy and Carr, Leslie (2010) A manifesto for Web Science. In, WebSci10: Extending the Frontiers of Society On-Line, Raleigh, US, 26 - 27 Apr 2010. 6pp.
Pope, C.J., Roberts, G., Bate, P., le May, A.C. and Gabbay, J. (2008) The transformation of meaning on the journey of an organsiational innovation from macro to micro-systems: an empirical case study of NHS Treatment Centres. In, 6th International Conference on Organisational Discourse, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2004.
Pope, C.J., le May, A.C. and Gabbay, J. (2008) People, place and innovation: how organisational culture and physical environment shaped the implementation of the NHS TC programme. In, 6th International Conference on Organsiational Behaviour in Health Care: Culture and climate - crakcing the code, Sydney, Australia, 26 - 28 Mar 2008. Sydney, Australia,
Gerard, Karen, Pope, Catherine, Salisbury, Chris, Banks, Jon and Lattimer, Val (2007) Using quantitative and qualitative methods to inform public health decision-makers of patient preferences: a case study in improving access to general practice services. At The 15th Annual Public Health Forum, Edinburgh, UK, 28 - 29 Mar 2007.
le May, A.C., Gabbay, J. and Pope, C.J. (2006) The diffusion of innovation into British health services: a case study of treatment centres. In, Health Technology Assessment International Annual Conference, Adelaide, Australia, 02 - 05 Jul 2006.
Pope, C.J., le May, A.C. and Gabbay, J. (2006) Chasing chameleons, chimeras and caterpillars: researching the implementation of an organisational innovation in the National Health Service. In, Organisational Behaviour in Health Care, Aberdeen, Scotland, 10 - 12 Apr 2006.
le May, A., Gabbay, J. and Pope, C.J. (2005) The diffusion of innovation into British Health Services: a case study of treatment centres. In, The 6th International Conference on the Scientific Basis of Health Services (ICSBHS), Montréal, Canada, 18 - 20 Sep 2005.
Pope, C., Chalder, M. and Salisbury, C. (2002) Why people use walk-in centres. In, BSA Medical Sociology Group Conference: 34th Annual Conference, York, UK, 27 - 29 Sep 2002.
Smith, A.F., Goodwin, D., Mort, M. and Pope, C. (2001) Making explicit anaesthetic expertise: methodological consideration and subjects' perceptions. In, Anaesthetics Research Society Meeting, University of Leeds, UK, 05 - 06 Jul 2001.
Pope, C. (2001) Can the art of surgery and evidence based medicine be reconciled? In, International Society of Technology Assessment in Health Care, Philadelphia, USA, 03 - 06 Jun 2001.
Pope, C., Salisbury, C., Manku-Scott, T., Chadler, M., Nicholas, R., Deave, T., Noble, S., Moore, L., Coast, J., Anderson, E., Weiss, M., Grant, C. and Sharp, D. (2001) What are walk-in centres? A preliminary descriptive analysis from the National Evaluation of NHS walk-in centres. In, SW Association of Departments of GP Annual Meeting, Warwick, UK, 09 - 10 Feb 2001.
Pope, C., Smith, A., Goodwin, D. and Mort, M. (2001) Passing on tacit knowledge in anaesthesia: how can training learn form qualitative methods? In, Association for the Study of Medical Education Annual Scientific Meeting, Dublin, Ireland, 11 - 13 Jul 2001.
Pope, C. (2000) Why surgeons don’t follow guidelines. In, Society for Social Medicine annual meeting 2000, Norwich, UK, 06 - 08 Jun 2000.

Monograph

Campbell, R., Pound, P., Morgan, M., Daker-White, G., Britten, N., Pill, R., Yardley, L., Pope, Catherine and Donovan, J. (2011) Evaluating meta-ethnography: systematic analysis and synthesis of qualitative research. London, GB, Her Majesty's Stationary Office, 179pp. (Health Technology Assessment, (doi:10.3310/hta15430) , 15 (43)).
Rowsell, A.C., Pope, C. and O'Cathin, A. (2011) Briefing report on evidence reviews of telehealth for long term conditions. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton
Rowsell, A.C., Pope, C. and O'Cathin, A. (2011) Briefing report on evidence from systematic reviews of telehealth for and computerised web-based interventions for depression and mental health problems. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton
Rowsell, A.C., Pope, C., O'Cathin, A. and Brownsell, S. (2011) Briefing report on qualitative literature of telehealth for long term conditions. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton
Bate, Paul, Robert, Gabbay, Gallivan, Steve, Jit, Mark, Utley, Martin, Le May, Andree and Pope, Catherine (2008) The development and implementation of NHS treatment centres as an organisational innovation. London, UK, Service Delivery and Organisation Programme: National Institute for Health Research, 7pp.
Salisbury, Chris, Chalder, Melanie, Manku-Scott, Terjinder, Nicholas, Ruth, Deave, Toity, Noble, Sian, Pope, Catherine, Moore, Laurence, Coast, Joanne, Anderson, Elizabeth, Weiss, Marjorie, Grant, Clare and Sharp, Deborah (2002) The national evaluation of NHS walk-in centres - final report. Bristol, UK, University of Bristol, 159pp.
 

Research

Research Interests

  • Strong focus on health care work and clinical and non-clinical workers including decision-making, communication and organizational boundaries
  • Investigating how technologies (notably computer and web-based) are – or are not – brought into successful use in a range of different health care settings
  • Research on policy change, re-organisation and new ways of delivering healthcare - workforce configuration, new roles and service innovation
  • Key contributor to developing meta-ethnography (a novel method for integrating research findings) and new methods for qualitative evidence synthesis
  • Exploring the contribution of theory – notably normalisation process theory - to understanding innovation and implementation in health care

Primary research group:  Organisation and Delivery of Care

Research projects

Improving the quality of ambulance crew hand-overs

A collaboration with colleagues in local NHS Trusts to provide the first ethnographic study of communication and information transfer during ambulance journeys.

Knowledge exchange in healthcare commissioning

This project will examine three distinct models of commissioning expertise, namely private sector (i.e. external providers), Primary Care Trust (PCT) commissioning and GP consortia commissioning and. explore how commissioners access, assimilate, integrate and utilize different kinds of managerial and clinical knowledge in  the commissioning process.

Same technology, different settings

A multidisciplinary case study of computer decision support and workforce redesign. A unique contribution to the understanding of how health technologies are deployed in the NHS.

The HealthLines Study: expanding the role of NHS Direct in the management of long-term conditions

Exploring the potential of ‘telehealth’ (internet and the telephone) to improve care for people with long term conditions.

The work, workforce, technology and organisational implications of 111

Examining the everyday work and practice, the experience and skills of the workforce, the technologies brought into use, and organizational environment, required to deliver the national ‘111’ single point of access service.

Teaching Responsibilities

Successful integration of up to date research into postgraduate education for healthcare professionals and researchers

Supporting research excellence through highly evaluated teaching of social science and research methodology

Sustained contribution to the knowledge base for health education through publications used in education programmes across the world

Deputy Director of the pioneering University of Southampton RCUK Doctoral Training Centre in Web Science

Contact

Professor Catherine Pope
University of Southampton
Faculty of Health Sciences
Building 67
Highfield
Southampton
SO17 1BJ

Room Number: 67/E4019

Telephone: (023) 8059 8293
Facsimile: (023) 8059 8308
Email: C.J.Pope@soton.ac.uk