University Senior Lecturer in General Practice and Palliative Care, General Practitioner and Honorary Consultant Physician in Palliative Care
M.A., B.M., B.Ch., M.Sc., F.R.C.G.P., F.H.E.A., M.D.
Email: sigb2@medschl.cam.ac.uk
Tel: 01223 763082
Background
Stephen’s pre-clinical medical training was in Cambridge and his clinical training in Oxford. After GP training in Bristol he started work in a market town practice in the Cambridgeshire Fens and then in 1990 moved to a GP practice in Cambridge. He continues to work clinically in General Practice. He has worked clinically in the Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge since 1995, where he has been Honorary Consultant Physician in Palliative Care since 1996.
Funded by a NHS R&D Health Services Research Training Fellowship 1998 – 2001, he undertook the City University MSc course in Advanced Social Science Research Methods and Statistics. His 2005 MD thesis from the University of Cambridge “General Practitioner provision of Palliative Care in the United Kingdom” was awarded the Clinical School’s Ralph Noble prize.
In 2006 he was awarded a Department of Health / Macmillan Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, leading a programme of research “Towards an intervention to optimise Primary Palliative Care: identifying patients and understanding their preferences.”
In 2011 he was appointed HEFCE Clinical Senior Lecturer in General Practice and Palliative Care in the Primary Care Unit. He was promoted to University Senior Lecturer and awarded a university Pilkington Prize for teaching excellence in 2015. He leads the Unit’s Palliative and End of Life Care research group and the teaching of Palliative Care in the Medical School.
He is Clinical Lead in End of Life Care for the Cambridge and Peterborough CCG and is the Clinical Lead for the CCG End of Life Care Data Sharing project. He was GP member of the 2012 NICE Topic Expert Group that developed Quality Standards for End of Life Care in the NHS. He is Chair of the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit East of England Regional Advisory Panel and leads the national Marie Curie Design to Care Collaborative.
Research Interests
Stephen has worked in Palliative and End of Life Care research for over 20 years. His research focuses on Palliative and End of Life Care in Primary Care, with a particular interest in General Practitioner and District Nurse provision of care, end of life care conversations in cancer and non-cancer illness, decision-making concerning treatment cessation in advanced disease and medical student education in Palliative Care. He led the End of Life Care theme of the NIHR CLAHRC for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 2008 – 2013 and currently leads the End of Life Care sub-theme in the NIHR CLAHRC East of England 2014 – 2018.
Teaching
In 2002 he was appointed by the Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine as Specialty Director for Palliative Care: since then he has led a considerable expansion of the curricular time allocated to Palliative Care, which now forms a major component of the clinical course in Cambridge and is regularly examined in the medical students’ Finals examinations. He co-leads the Undergraduate Education Forum of the Association for Palliative Medicine and led to 2014 revision of the national curriculum for medical student teaching in Palliative Care.
Selected recent publications include :
Bowers B, Ryan R, Hoare S, Barclay S (2019). “Anticipatory syringe drivers: a step too far”. BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care; 9: 149–150. doi:10.1136/bmjspcare-2018-001728
Moffat S, Fritz Z, Slowther A-M, Parry M, Barclay S (2019). “Do not attempt CPR in the community: the experience of ambulance clinicians”. Journal of Paramedic Practice: 11 (5); 198 – 204
Fistein E, Clarke G, Holland A, Barclay S (2019). “This Condition isn’t going to get any better so I can’t see why we’re prolonging it”. Risks and benefits of using empirical research to inform normative decisions concerning end of life care. Journal of Disability and Religion; 22 (3): 283–297. DOI: 10.1080/23312521.2018.1493959
Barclay S, Moran E, Boase S, Johnson M, Lovick R, Graffy J, White P, Deboys B, Harrison K, Swash B. (2019). “Primary Palliative Care research: opportunities and challenges”. BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care: e-pub Feb 2019 doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2018-001653
Boland J, Barclay S, Gibbins J (2019). “Twelve tips for developing palliative care teaching in an undergraduate curriculum for medical students”. Medical Teacher: e-pub Jan 2019 2018 doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2018.1533243
Petrova M, Barclay S (2019). “Research approvals iceberg. How a ‘low-key’ study in England needed 89 professionals to approve it and how we can do better”. BMC Medical Ethics; 20 (7): doi.org/10.1186/s12910-018-0339-5
Bowers B, Ryan R, Kuhn I, Barclay S (2018). “Anticipatory prescribing of injectable medications for adults at the end of life in the community: a systematic review”. Palliative Medicine; 33(2): 160 – 177 DOI: 10.1177/0269216318815796
Knights D, Knights F, Barclay S (2018). “ ‘Please make comfortable’: prescribing and communicating opioids in the wake of Gosport”. British Journal of General Practice: 68 (674): 462 – 3. doi.org/10.3399/bjgp18X698705
Clarke G, Fistein E, Holland A, Tobin J, Barclay SS, Barclay S (2018). “Planning for an uncertain future in progressive neurological disease: a qualitative study of patient and family decision-making with a focus on nutrition and hydration interventions”. BMC Neurology; 18: 115 doi.org/10.1186/s12883-018-1112-6
Harshfield A, Abel G, Barclay S, Payne R (2018). “Do GPs accurately record date of death? A UK observational analysis”. BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care: e-pub July 2018 doi:10.1136/bmjspcare-2018-001514
Hoare S, Kelly M, Prothero L, Barclay S (2018). “Ambulance practitioners and end-of-life hospital admissions: an interview study”. Palliative Medicine; 32(9): 1465 – 2473 DOI: 10.1177/0269216318779238
Butler C, Brigden C, Gage H, Williams P, Holdsworth L, Greene K, Wee B, Barclay S, Wilson P (2018). “Optimum hospice at home services for end of life care; protocol of a mixed methods study employing realist evaluation”. BMJ Open 2018; 8: e021192. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-021192
Thomas T, Clarke G, Barclay S (2018). “The difficulties of discharging hospice patients to care homes at the end of life. A focus group study”. Palliative Medicine: e-pub May 2018 DOI: 10.1177/0269216318772735
Diver R, Thiemann P, Quince T, Barclay S (2018). “Palliative care in medical practice: medical students’ expectations”. BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care: e-pub April 2018 doi:10.1136/bmjspcare-2017-001486
Stow D, Matthews F, Barclay S, Iliffe S, Clegg A, De Biase S, Robinson L, Hanratty B (2018). “Frailty scores to predict mortality in older adults using data from population based electronic health records: case control study”. Age and Ageing: epub 15.03.2018 doi: 10.1093/ageing/afy022
Petrova M, Barclay S (2018). “Something’s awry (again) in the debate on patient data sharing”. British Journal of General Practice: 68 (688); 133. DOI:10.3399/bjgp18X695081
Buck J, Webb W, Moth L, Morgan L, Barclay S (2018). “Persistent inequalities in Hospice at Home provision: findings from a service evaluation”. BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care: published on line Feb 2018 doi.10.1136/bmjspcare-2017-001367
Green E, Knight S, Gott M, Barclay S, White P (2018). “Patients’ and carers’ perspectives of palliative care in general practice: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the literature”. Palliative Medicine: 32 (4); 838 – 850 doi/10.1177/0269216317748862
Sharp T, Malyon A, Barclay S (2017). “GPs’ perceptions of advance care planning with frail and older people.” British Journal of General Practice: 68; 44 – 53. DOI/10.3399/bjgp17X694145
Gamlin C, Womersley K, Taylor H, Fay I, Brassett C, Barclay S (2017). “Can you be a doctor, even if you faint?” the tacit lessons of cadaveric dissection. Psychiatria Danubina, 2017; Vol. 29, Suppl. 3, pp 247-253
Fleming J, Calloway R, Perrels A, Farquhar M, Barclay S, Brayne C and CC75C Cambridge City over-75s Cohort study collaboration (2017). “Dying comfortably in very old age with or without dementia in different care settings: a representative “older old” population study”. BMC Geriatrics 2017 17/222 DOI 10.1186/s12877-017-0605-2
Hiscock A, Barclay S (2017). “It’s a hard conversation to have”. Healthcare professionals’ views concerning advance care discussions with young people affected by life-limiting neuromuscular diseases: an interview study. BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care; doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2017-001369