Staff Profile

Sue is a qualitative health researcher with a background in social sciences working within the AGE Research Group in the Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences. Sue has research interests in multiple long-term conditions (MLTC) and hospital care and contributes to the work of two themes within the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre: Ageing, Sarcopenia and Multimorbidity and Informatics and Precision Care for an Ageing Population.

Sue leads a Qualitative Methods Community of Practice in MLTC Research supporting early and mid-career qualitative researchers and supervises a doctoral student funded by Newcastle University and the Vivensa Foundation.

Sue has been conducting qualitative research within the ADMISSION Research Collaborative since 2022, a UKRI-NIHR funded study which aims to transform understandings for people with multiple long-term conditions (MLTC) in hospital. Sue has been responsible for conducting qualitative research with people with MLTC who have had a recent hospital stay, and for exploring public perceptions of MLTC through a written account study with the Mass Observation Project.

Sue is a Graduate School Associate Fellow and supervises a Newcastle University/ Vivensa Foundation PhD student.

• Articles

  • Thompson F, Bellass S, Scharf T, Witham MD, Cooper R. Perceptions of hospital care quality according to people living with multiple long-term conditions: a scoping review. Health Expectations 2025, 28(3), e70297.
  • Witham MD, Bartle V, Bellass S, Bunn JG, Cartner D, Cordell HJ, Doal R, Evison F, Gallier S, Harris S, Hillman SJ, Holding R, Leroux P, Marshall T, Matthews FE, Missier P, Nair A, Osman M, Pearson ER, Plummer C, Pretorius S, Richardson SJ, Robinson SM, Sapey E, Scharf T, Shah R, Shahmandi M, Singer M, Suklan J, Wason JMS, Cooper R, Sayer AA. Building ADMISSION – a research collaborative to transform understanding of multiple long-term conditions for people admitted to hospital. Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity 2025, 15.
  • Bellass S, Canvin K, Farragher T, McLintock K, Wright N, Hearty P, Seanor N, Cunningham M, Foy R, Sheard L. Understanding and improving the quality of primary care for people in prison: a mixed-methods study. Health and Social Care Delivery Research 2024, 12(46).
  • Bellass S, Canvin K, Sheard L. ‘Trying to battle a very slow version of the system that exists outside’: Experiences of waiting for healthcare in English prisons. Health 2024, 28(5), 736-753.
  • Carswell C, Brown JVE, Shiers D, Ajjan R, Balogun-Katung A, Bellass S, Holt RIG, Jacobs R, Kellar I, Lewisohn C, Lister J, Siddiqi N, Sidorova I, Coventry P. The Lived Experience of Informal Caregivers of People Who Have Severe Mental Illness and Coexisting Long-Term Conditions: A Qualitative Study. Health Expectations 2024, 27(3), e14119.
  • Bellass S, Scharf T, Errington L, Bowden Davies K, Robinson S, Runacres A, Ventre J, Witham MD, Sayer AA, Cooper R. Experiences of hospital care for people with multiple long-term conditions: a scoping review of qualitative research. BMC Medicine 2024, 11(2), 923-936.
  • Sheard L, Bellass S, McLintock K, Foy R, Canvin K. Understanding the organisational influences on the quality of and access to primary care in English prisons: a qualitative interview study. British Journal of General Practice 2023, 73(735), e720-e727.
  • Hearty P, Canvin K, Bellass S, Hampton S, Wright N, Sheard L. Understanding the impact of Covid-19 on the delivery and receipt of prison healthcare: an international scoping review. Health and Justice 2023, 11, 42.
  • McLintock K, Foy R, Canvin K, Bellass S, Hearty P, Wright N, Cunningham M, Seanor N, Sheard L, Farragher T. The quality of prison primary care: cross-sectional cluster-level analyses of prison healthcare data in the North of England. eClinicalMedicine 2023, 63, 102171.
  • Blackaby J, Byrne J, Bellass S, Canvin K, Foy R. Interventions to improve the implementation of evidence-based healthcare in prisons: a scoping review. Health and Justice 2023, 11, 1.
  • Carswell C, Brown JVE, Lister J, Ajjan RA, Alderson SL, Balogun-Katung A, Bellass S, Double K, Gilbody S, Hewitt CE, Holt RIG, Jacobs R, Kellar I, Peckham E, Shiers D, Taylor J, Siddiqi N, Coventry P. The lived experience of severe mental illness and long-term conditions: a qualitative exploration of service user, carer, and healthcare professional perspectives on self-managing co-existing mental and physical conditions. BMC Psychiatry 2022, 22(1), 479.
  • Bellass S, Canvin K, McLintock K, Wright N, Farragher T, Foy R, Sheard L. Quality indicators and performance measures for prison healthcare: a scoping review. Health and Justice 2022, 10, 13.
  • Wang H-I, Han L, Jacobs R, Doran T, Holt RIG, Prady SL, Gilbody S, Shiers D, Alderson S, Hewitt C, Taylor J, Kitchen CEW, Bellass S, Siddiqi N. Healthcare resource use and costs for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus with and without severe mental illness in England: longitudinal matched-cohort study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. British Journal of Psychiatry 2022, 221(1), 402-409.
  • Bellass S, Lister J, Kitchen CEW, Kramer L, Alderson SL, Doran T, Gilbody S, Han L, Hewitt C, Holt RIG, Jacobs R, Prady SL, Shiers D, Siddiqi N, Taylor J. Living with diabetes alongside a severe mental illness: A qualitative exploration with people with severe mental illness, family members and healthcare staff. Diabetic Medicine 2021, 38(7), e14562.
  • Han L, Doran T, Holt RIG, Hewitt C, Jacobs R, Prady SL, Alderson SL, Shiers D, Wang H-I, Bellass S, Gilbody S, Kitchen CEW, Lister J, Taylor J, Siddiqi N. Impact of severe mental illness on healthcare use and health outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes: A longitudinal observational study in England. British Journal of General Practice 2021, 71(709), e565-e573.
  • Balogun-Katung A, Carswell C, Brown JVE, Coventry P, Ajjan R, Alderson S, Bellass S, Boehnke JR, Holt R, Jacobs R, Kellar I, Kitchen C, Lister J, Peckham E, Shiers D, Siddiqi N, Wright J, Young B, Taylor J. Exploring the facilitators, barriers, and strategies for self-management in adults living with severe mental illness, with and without long-term conditions: A qualitative evidence synthesis. PLoS ONE 2021, 16(10), e0258937.
  • Bellass S, Taylor J, Han L, Prady SL, Shiers D, Jacobs R, Gregory Holt RI, Radford J, Gilbody S, Hewitt C, Doran T, Alderson SL, Siddiqi N. Exploring severe mental illness and diabetes: Protocol for a longitudinal, observational, and qualitative mixed methods study. JMIR Research Protocols 2019, 8(9), e13407.
  • Bellass S, Balmer A, May V, Keady J, Buse C, Capstick A, Burke L, Bartlett R, Hodgson J. Broadening the debate on creativity and dementia: A critical approach. Dementia 2019, 18(7-8), 2799-2820.
  • Stievano A, Bellass S, Rocco G, Olsen D, Sabatino L, Johnson M. Nursing’s professional respect as experienced by hospital and community nurses. Nursing Ethics 2018, 25(5), 665-683.
  • McEvoy, P, Bellass, S. Using drawings as a reflective tool to enhance communication in dementia care. Nursing Standard 2017, 31(19), 46-62.
  • McEvoy, P, Bellass, S, Williamson, T. Communication skills: Empowered Conversations. Journal of Dementia Care 2016, 24(4), 16-18.

• Editorial

  • Bellass S, Canvin K, McLintock K, Wright N. Editorials integrating primary care across the prison and community interface. British Journal of General Practice 2021, 71(703), 56-57.

• Reports

  • Lister J, Han L, Bellass S, Taylor J, Anderson SL, Doran T, Gilbody S, Hewitt C, Holt RIG, Jacobs R, Kitchen CEW, Prady SL, Radford J, Ride JR, Shiers D, Wang H, Siddiqi N. Identifying determinants of diabetes risk and outcomes for people with severe mental illness: a mixed-methods study. London: National Institute for Health Research, 2021. Health and Social Care Delivery Research.
  • Bellass, S. The challenges of multiple perspectival QLR analysis. National Centre for Research Methods, 2019. Analysing large volumes of complex qualitative data: reflections from a group of international experts.

• Review

  • Coventry PA, Young B, Balogun-Katang A, Taylor J, Brown JVE, Kitchen C, Kellar I, Peckham E, Bellass S, Wright J, Alderson S, Lister J, Holt RIG, Doherty P, Carswell C, Hewitt C, Jacobs R, Osborn D, Boehnke J, Siddiqi N. Determinants of Physical Health Self-Management Behaviours in Adults With Serious Mental Illness: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2021, 12, 723962.