Abi Eccles

As a qualitative and mixed methods researcher, my work examines patients’ experiences of accessing healthcare, as well as clinicians’ views, often combining perspectives to gain comprehensive understandings of the challenges.

My previous research focuses on access systems, digital approaches (online booking, online triage and remote consultations), and women’s health (menopause and child birth injuries), all including a focus on inequalities in accessing care.  Currently, my work examines use of Generative AI (informally and formally) in adult social care and I am developing research to investigate the current and evolving use of AI Ambient Scribes in primary care.

My passion for research comes from a motivation to understand reasons behind inequalities and challenge assumptions. In the context of primary care, innovations promising to solve some of the challenges may not work entirely as intended in messy real world settings, sometimes with unintended consequences. Qualitative and mixed methods enquiry allows in-depth exploration of how healthcare and such innovations are actually experienced and their influence, as well as examination of mediating factors shaping disparities in access to care.

I am also part of the Applied Digital Health team. As well as teaching and tutoring, I am the dissertation lead, for the MSc in Applied Digital Health course.