Centre Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation
School of Healthcare Sciences
Bangor University
Two PhD Studentships in Health Economics
Applications are invited for 2 full-time PhD studentships, funded by the National
Institute for Social Care and Health Research (NISCHR). These studentships are
based at the Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation (CHEME) at
Bangor University under the supervision of Rhiannon Tudor Edwards, Professor of
Health Economics, and colleagues across the College of Health and Behavioural
Sciences.
These 2 PhD studentships have been funded through the NISCHR Health and Social
Care streams:
Health care stream:
Exploring the economics of hospital care for people with
dementia.
Social care stream:
Improving the housing stock of Anglesey and Gwynedd: a
health economics and behavioural psychology evaluation.
The student will be supported by a multidisciplinary supervisory/advisory team
including a health economist and relevant clinical and academic expertise. This will
provide an exciting opportunity for two students seeking a stepping stone into careers
in health economics, specifically with interests in dementia care and public health
economics.
The closing date for applications is Monday 22nd of September. The successful
applicant is expected to commence their studies on 1st October 2014 or, at the latest,
by the start of January 2015.
Further details about the Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation and
North Wales are available at http://cheme.bangor.ac.uk/
Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact Rhiannon Tudor Edwards, in the
first instance, by email on [email protected] or by telephone on +44 (0)
1248 383712.
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Studentship Details:
These two studentships are for three years on a full-time basis from October 2014
and are available to UK applicants. In addition to having tuition fees paid, the PhD
students will each receive an annual tax free stipend of £14,000 in 2014-15, £14,000
in 20015-16 and £14,000 in 2016-17.
The studentship also includes funds to attend relevant technical health economics
courses, a budget for travel & subsistence expenses and office costs to support the
research, a budget for conference attendance, a laptop and the publication fee for a
paper in a suitable Open Access journal.
Application Details:
Applicants must be a UK national with a first class or upper-second-class
undergraduate degree and, preferably, an MSc in economics, health economics,
psychology, relevant health or social science, or have previous experience of working
in a clinical or health-related research environment.
Applications should be made using the University’s ‘conventional postgraduate
application form’ which is available as a .doc file at the link below.
http://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/postgrad/research/apply_research.php.en
Please ensure that you state the department in which you wish to study is School of
Healthcare Sciences and that your area of study is Health Economics. Please also
use the Personal Statement in Section C of the form to ensure you explain your
academic background, your interest in this PhD topic and expectations if you are
awarded this studentship.
The form’s Section D regarding financial support should indicate that you are
applying for third party funding and the name of the funding body should be quoted
as ‘NISCHR (Dementia health care studentship R26G20)’ OR ‘NISCHR (Housing
social care studentship R26G21)’ with none of the rest of the details below that field
in Section D needing to be completed.
The Educational Benefits and Opportunities associated with the Studentship:
The students will be expected to complete their PhDs within 3 years, and graduate as
practising health economists with specialist experience relating to the conduct of
health economic analysis in these applied areas.

They will gain a sound basic knowledge of health economics, having attended
the MSc 20 credit module in Health Economics taught by Rhiannon Tudor
Edwards at Bangor University in Year 1 of their PhDs. They will have the
opportunity to attend research seminars held within the department and at a
wider Bangor University level. A range of courses and workshops (e.g.
introduction to statistics, presentation skills) are run by Bangor University and
the student will have the opportunity to attend these.

There is a monthly CHEME journal club to look at examples of published
papers. The students will be encouraged to attend to develop their debating
and critical appraisal skills. The students will have the opportunity to lead the
discussion annually during their time in the department.
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
The students will attend the bi-annual Welsh Health Economists Group
(WHEG) meetings, which alternate between being held in North and South
Wales. They will have the opportunity to present findings at the WHEG
meetings in a friendly and supportive environment of health economists. The
students will have the opportunity to attend the UK wide Health Economists
Study Group (HESG) meetings to present their work.

The students would join our PhD programme, which uses a four publishable
papers based framework for the thesis. The programme will allow the students
to integrate fully with staff and other research students in the Centre for Health
Economics and Medicines Evaluation, including the support of a wider multidisciplinary thesis advisory committee spanning clinical and other relevant
academic expertise.
The Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation
The Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation (CHEME) is part of the
School of Healthcare Sciences, within the College of Health and Behavioural
Sciences (CoHaBS) at Bangor University.
The Centre is active across a range of health economic research activities, and
employs a team of health economists who are supported by an administrator.
Current research activities include economic evaluation alongside trials of health
technologies. The Centre has formal links with two registered Clinical Trials Units that
are part of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC): the North Wales
Organisation for Randomised Trials in Health (based within Bangor University), and
the University of Liverpool’s Clinical Trials Research Centre.
NISCHR
The National Institute for Social Care and Health Research (NISCHR) is the Welsh
Government body that develops, in consultation with partners, strategy and policy for
research in the NHS and social care in Wales.
NISCHR's goal is to fund today's research that will inform tomorrow's care and
improve the health and wealth of the people of Wales
http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/home.cfm?orgid=952
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PhD Studentship Project Abstract – Health care
stream
Project Title:
Exploring the economics of hospital care for people with
dementia.
Funder:
NISCHR
Supervisors:
 Professor Rhiannon Tudor Edwards is a Co-Director of the Centre for Health
Economics and Medicines Evaluation at Bangor University and is a Professor of
Health Economics.
 Dr Carys Jones is a Research Officer at the Centre for Health Economics and
Medicines Evaluation, Bangor University. She undertook her own PhD looking at
quality of life measurement for family carers of people with dementia living in the
community and currently works on several dementia and aging themed projects.
 Professor Bob Woods is an internationally renowned clinical psychologist
undertaking research into Dementia care.
Background to the Project: A 2009 Alzheimer’s Society survey found 77% of carers
thought quality of care received on hospital admission was unsatisfactory, with a lack
of person centred care being the greatest cause for dissatisfaction. Whether it is for
planned procedures or during crisis, hospital admission can be a time of great
distress. People with dementia often get admitted to hospital with seemingly minor
illnesses, yet end up staying for a long time. Longer stays are often associated with a
decline in physical health and a worsening of dementia symptoms.
Objective: To apply health economics methods to explore, model and understand
how dementia affects costs of hospital care in older people.
Methods: This PhD will use a mixed methods approach (questionnaires and
interviews) to explore lengths of stay for people with dementia admitted to hospitals
in Wales. The PhD will begin with a literature review of what is currently known about
hospital stays for people with dementia and the associated economic costs. A
quantitative analysis of lengths of stay for people with dementia admitted to Betsi
Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) in North Wales hospitals in the year
2013 will follow. The student will conduct case studies at a hospital ward in Wales
where the length of stay for people with dementia is higher than the Welsh average
and a ward where the length of stay is shorter than the Welsh average. Whilst there,
the student will talk to hospital staff about current practice to identify what works well
and not so well. The student will then conduct an all Wales survey of a sample of
NHS hospital staff to find out what best practice guidelines for dementia care in
hospitals have already been adopted and how successfully the policies have been
implemented. The thesis will conclude with a programme budgeting marginal
analysis (PBMA) to explore the effect of changing current funding patterns for
hospital care of people with dementia in order to make hospital stays a better
experience for people with dementia and their carers
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PhD Studentship Project Abstract – Social care
stream
Project Title:
Improving the housing stock of Anglesey and Gwynedd: a health
economics and behavioural psychology evaluation.
Funder:
NISCHR
Supervisors:
 Professor Rhiannon Tudor Edwards is a Co-Director of the Centre for Health
Economics and Medicines Evaluation at Bangor University and is a Professor of
Health Economics.
 Dr Joanna Charles is a Research Officer at the Centre for Health Economics and
Medicines Evaluation, Bangor University, with a special interest in public health
economics. She is currently working on a number of research project assessing
public health interventions and works with Rhiannon Tudor Edwards as a
consultant Health Economics for Public Health Wales, the single national public
health organisation.
 Professor John Parkinson is the Director of the Wales Centre for Behaviour
Change, Bangor University and Acting Head of the School of Psychology.
Background to the Project: Cold homes (particularly those below 16oC)
substantially increase risk of respiratory and cardiovascular conditions.
Approximately 40,000 more deaths occur in the UK during the coldest months of the
year (December to March) compared to warmer months (June to September). It is
estimated that at least £600 million is spent each year by the UK NHS treating ill
health related directly to poor housing. A 2008 report by the Chartered Institute of
Environmental Health estimated on average it costs £4,993 to remedy excess cold
issues per household.
Objective: To apply health economics and behavioural psychology to better
understand the relationship between housing and health.
Methods:
The aim of this interdisciplinary (health economics/behavioural psychology) PhD is:
1) To review the literature on economic evidence of the cost effectiveness of
preventing ill health through housing improvement
2) To review the behavioural psychology literature on income, fuel poverty/heating
costs and use of heating/warm clothes
3) Explore the cost impact of home heating and ventilation improvements
4) Explore the effect on health and behaviour change of home heating and
ventilation improvements
Field work for the PhD will take place across Anglesey and Gwynedd, an area of
Wales with a poor housing stock, scheduled for refurbishment 2014/15. The PhD
student will build on research methods that CHEME is currently using in our research
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collaboration with housing associations in Sunderland and Nottingham. This PhD
project also builds on the CHARISMA study, previously undertaken in Wrexham, a
trial of housing improvement in homes of children with asthma. This project is
strengthened by being underpinned by an existing collaboration between Bangor
University, BCUHB respiratory medicine, Public Health Wales and Anglesey and
Gwynedd councils, housing departments.
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