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Staff Profile

Dr Clare Abley

Nurse Consultant Vulnerable Older Adults & Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer

  • Email: clare.abley@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 191 208 3802
  • Address: Population Health Sciences Institute
    Faculty of Medical Sciences
    Newcastle University
    Newcastle Biomedical Research Building
    Campus for Ageing and Vitality
    Newcastle
    NE4 5LP
Background

Introduction

My substantive post is as a nurse consultant for vulnerable older adults employed by The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. This role comprises service and practice development, research, education, training and development and expert practice / consultancy for services for older people in both primary and secondary care.  

Work since 2011 has focused on improving dementia care in the acute hospital environment. This includes chairing chair the Trust Dementia Care Steering Group and leading on the development, implementation and monitoring of the Trust Dementia Care Strategy. I also line manage the Trust Dementia Care Team. Other strands of work relate to safeguarding vulnerable adults, including chairing the Improving Practice Committee which is a sub-group of the Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board, and leading associated work-streams.   

In 2010 I completed my PhD on patient centred care and vulnerability in old age and am particularly interested in ways to reduce vulnerability experienced by older people across the whole of the patient pathway from primary care, across secondary care and back to the community. From 2014-19 I undertook a prestigious NIHR Post-doctoral Fellowship (Clinical Lectureship) focusing on improving general hospital care for older people with cognitive impairment. This involved a systematic review of care and patient management interventions as well as an ethnographic study of patients' experiences and resulted in the development of the Dementia Care Leaders' Toolkit. Following a service evaluation of the Toolkit at Newcastle Hospitals (2019-20), a realist evaluation across three Trusts in England is planned, together with a smaller scale study to adapt and test the Toolkit for use by family carers. Funding has been sought for both studies.    

As a clinical academic nurse I am committed to developing capacity and capability of clinical academics at all levels from internships to post doctoral work, especially in the care of older people including those living with dementia. I work with Trust colleagues to support and enable nurses and AHPs to pursue research endeavours alongside their clinical work and am on the supervisory team for a number of PhD students at Newcastle University all undertaking dementia care related research (currently one nurse funded by an ESRC NINE award as a collaboration with Newcastle Hospitals, one SALT funded by an NIHR Doctoral Fellowship and a dentist also undertaking an NIHR funded doctorate). I have successfully supervised one PhD student through to completion (Northumbria University).   

I am a member of the Royal College of Nursing and the British Geriatrics Society (BGS). I was the first chair of the BGS Special Interest Group for nurses and allied health professionals (2005-08) and continue to be a member of the current BGS Nurse and AHP Council. 

I sit on the NIHR HTA Integrated Community Health and Social Care Prioritisation Committee (2020-24).


My honorary contract at Newcastle University is with the  Institute of Population and Health Sciences

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/institutes/population-health/  



Area of expertise

  • Health care for older people with complex health and social care needs, including those with dementia and delirium; primary and secondary care.
  • Safeguarding vulnerable adults

Research

Between 2014-19 I held a prestigious post-doctoral NIHR Clinical Academic Training Fellowship (Clinical Lectureship) to improve general hospital care of older people with cognitive impairment (dementia and delirium). This resulted in the development of the Dementia Care Leaders' Toolkit. Funding to undertake this work was supplemented by a £35k grant from Biomedical Research Unit in Dementia, Newcastle University.

Other research has included working on the SDO NIHR funded 'Transitions' Study with colleagues from Newcastle and Manchester Universities and Kings college, London.  The study explored service provision and support for people at the early stages of memory loss and their carers / supporters. This study is now complete. The final report is available at the web address below. 

 http://www.sdo.nihr.ac.uk/projdetails.php?ref=08-1809-229

My doctorate (Newcastle University, 2010) focused on patient centred care and vulnerability in old age. It took a social constructionist approach, exploring these concepts from the perspectives of older people, volunteers working with older people and health and social care professionals. It culminated in a model of patient centred care and vulnerability in old age which encourages professionals to ask older patients when they feel vulnerable and to intervene accordingly.      

During 2010/11 I led work on a one day per week secondment basis to increase capacity for nursing research in primary care in the North of Tyne CLRN area. This involved establishing links with research colleagues and clinical colleagues in primary care in the North of Tyne area and carrying out a questionnaire survey of nurses working in primary care to determine their knowledge, skills, experience and interest in carrying out research. Mechanisms for taking this work forward were identified. 


At Newcastle University my base is within the Institute of Population and Health Sciences: 

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/institutes/population-health/

I currently contribute to the Ageing and Geroscience research theme: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/research-themes/ageing/ 

My work also aligns with the research themes for:

I am a member of the North East and Cumbria ACR theme on Multi-morbidity, Ageing and Frailty.

  

Students

I currently supervise 3 PhD students at Newcastle University, all undertaking dementia related research: a nurse on the ESRC NINE funded programme (collaboration with Newcastle Hospitals), a SALT undertaking an NIHR doctoral fellowship and a dentist also funded by the NIHR. 

I have supervised one student through to completion (Northumbria University) and sit on the progression panel for a student at Newcastle University who is due to submit her thesis in 2022. In 2021 I gained experience in examining two PhDs, one for Kings College London and another for Northumbria University. 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teaching

Facilitator for the practice based course: Best Practice in Dementia Care (Stirling University). 

Extensive experience in planning and delivering work based education and training for individuals and groups in the care of older people and most recently in the care of people with dementia.   

Publications