I am an academic GP and my research interest is in all aspects of patient safety in primary care. I have been involved in prescribing safety research for the last ten years and helped to develop prescribing indicators used by the RCGP and the CPRD. I worked on the multi-centre NIHR patient safety toolkit project for general practices which was adopted by the RCGP. My doctoral work focused on safety of communication at the interface of primary and secondary care. My current role allows me to develop this work to produce resources for primary care and for patients to improve safety at the interface of primary and secondary care. I am a mixed methods researcher familiar with most methodological techniques and have particular skills in RAND UCLA consensus methodology. As an early-careers researcher I am especially keen to collaborate within the department and externally. If you are interested in joining a patient safety special interest group at the University please contact me.
I was an academic GP trainee funded by the NIHR from 2011-2013 and worked with Professor Anthony Avery at the University of Nottingham. I completed my doctoral work with the same team between 2014 and 2018 funded by an NIHR career progression fellowship. I worked in a part-time salaried role at Park Leys Medical Practice in Coventry during this time. In 2018 I was the West Midlands CRN First 5 research champion promoting research in practice to young GPs across the region. In the first part of 2019 I undertook a sabbatical to New Zealand to work as a GP there. I'm now an Academic Clinical Lecturer in the Unit of Academic Primary Care - I'm usually on site at the medical school on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Monday and Friday I work as a GP at Sky Blue practice in Coventry.
- Weetman, Katharine, Dale, Jeremy, Spencer, Rachel, Scott, Emma, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2020. GP perspectives on hospital discharge letters: an interview and focus group study. BJGP Open
- Spencer, Rachel, Rodgers, Sarah, Salema, Ndeshi, Campbell, Stephen M., Avery, Anthony J., 2019. Processing discharge summaries in general practice : a qualitative interview study with GPs and practice managers. BJGP Open
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Campbell, Stephen M., Bell, Brian G., Marsden, Kate, Spencer, Rachel, Kadam, Umesh, Perryman, Katherine, Rodgers, Sarah, Litchfield, Ian, Reeves, David, Chuter, Antony, Doos, Lucy, Ricci-Cabello, Ignacio, Gill, Paramjit, Esmail, Aneez, Greenfield, Sheila, Slight, Sarah, Middleton, Karen, Barnett, Jane, Moore, Michael, Valderas, Jose M. et al (Select to open full list), 2019.
- Spencer, Rachel, Spencer, Simon E. F., Rodgers, Sarah, Campbell, Stephen M., Avery, Anthony John, 2018. Processing of discharge summaries in general practice : a retrospective record review. British Journal of General Practice, 68 (673), pp. e576-e585
- Bell, Brian G., Spencer, Rachel, Marsden, Kate, Perryman, Katherine, Campbell, Stephen M., Avery, Anthony J., 2016. Building a patient safety toolkit for use in general practice. InnovAiT: Education and inspiration for general practice, 9 (9), pp. 557-562
- Spencer, Rachel, Campbell, Stephen M., 2014. Tools for primary care patient safety : a narrative review. BMC Family Practice, 15 (1)
- Bell, Brian G., Spencer, Rachel, Avery, Anthony J., Campbell, Stephen M., 2014. Tools for measuring patient safety in primary care settings using the RAND/UCLA appropriateness method. BMC Family Practice, 15 (1)
- Spencer, Rachel, Bell, Brian, Avery, Anthony J., Gookey, Gill, Campbell, Stephen M., 2014. Identification of an updated set of prescribing-safety indicators for GPs. British Journal of General Practice, 64 (621), pp. e181-e190
- Avery, Tony, Gookey, Gill, Spencer, Rachel, Knox, Richard, Marsden, Kate, Salema, Ndeshi, 2013. Selecting the right drug. InnovAiT: Education and inspiration for general practice, 6 (8), pp. 478-487
- Avery, Tony, Gookey, Gill, Spencer, Rachel, Knox, Richard, Marsden, Kate, Salema, Ndeshi, 2013. Avoiding hazardous prescribing. InnovAiT: Education and inspiration for general practice, 6 (8), pp. 488-496
- Avery, Tony, Gookey, Gill, Spencer, Rachel, Knox, Richard, Marsden, Kate, Salema, Ndeshi, 2013. Selecting the right dose. InnovAiT: Education and inspiration for general practice, 6 (8), pp. 497-505
- Avery, Tony, Gookey, Gill, Spencer, Rachel, Knox, Richard, Marsden, Kate, Salema, Ndeshi, 2013. Providing the right dose instructions. InnovAiT: Education and inspiration for general practice, 6 (8), pp. 506-514
- Avery, Tony, Gookey, Gill, Spencer, Rachel, Knox, Richard, Marsden, Kate, Salema, Ndeshi, 2013. Providing the right medication monitoring. InnovAiT: Education and inspiration for general practice, 6 (8), pp. 515-523
- Avery, Tony, Gookey, Gill, Spencer, Rachel, Knox, Richard, Marsden, Kate, Salema, Ndeshi, 2013. Undertaking effective medication reviews. InnovAiT: Education and inspiration for general practice, 6 (8), pp. 524-533
- Avery, Anthony J., Dex, Grant M., Mulvaney, Caroline, Serumaga, Brian, Spencer, Rachel, Lester, Helen E., Campbell, Stephen M., 2011. Development of prescribing-safety indicators for GPs using the RAND Appropriateness Method. British Journal of General Practice, 61 (589), pp. e526-e536
- Spencer, Rachel, Avery, Anthony, Serumaga, Brian, Crowe, Sarah, 2011. Prescribing errors in general practice and how to avoid them. Clinical Risk, 17 (2), pp. 39-42
- Spencer, Rachel, 2020. Making hospital discharge safer for frail older patients. British Journal of General Practice, Royal College of General Practitioners, pp. 276-277