Wellcome Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Honorary Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care, Queen’s Nurse
Email: bb527@medschl.cam.ac.uk
Twitter: @Ben_Bowers__
Office: East Forvie Building | ORCID
Background
Ben is a clinical-academic community nurse. He is a Wellcome Post-Doctoral Research Fellow and practices clinically as an Honorary Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care.
Ben was recently announced as one of the 75 nurses and midwives whose work has had an especially significant impact on the NHS since its creation. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Award for Outstanding Service in 2022 and the European Association for Palliative Care Early Researcher Award 2023, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to community nursing and palliative care research. Ben is also an Honorary Associate Professor with the University of Nottingham.
Research Interests
Ben leads a programme of interdisciplinary research focused on improving last-days-of-life symptom control for adults dying at home. Ben’s Wellcome post-doctoral interdisciplinary research is investigating the human and system factors involved in the safe, effective and timely use of injectable symptom control medications at home. This research draws on social science, engineering design and patient safety disciplines. Ben is also researching general practice and community nursing provision of palliative care, and end-of-life decision-making.
Ben’s NIHR funded doctoral research investigated community end-of-life anticipatory prescribing practice and patients’, family caregivers’ and healthcare professionals’ perspectives of this care.
Ben works with colleagues across the UK to translate research findings into clinical practice and build community nurse research capacity. He co-founded and leads the UK-wide QNI Community Nursing Research Forum, with over 850 members to date.
He is supporting several early-career researchers and is passionate about the value of interdisciplinary research and public engagement. Ben is open to approaches to supervise University of Cambridge MPhil and PhD student projects within his fields of interests.
Awards
European Association for Palliative Care Early Researcher Award (2023)
NHS England Community Nursing Research Award (2022)
Queen Elizabeth Award for Outstanding Service (2022)
Additional Information
Community Nursing Research Consultant, Queen’s Nursing Institute (2022 – current)
Jesus College Post-Doctoral Associate (October 2022 – 2025)
Visiting Research Fellow, Cardiff University School of Medicine (2021 – current)
Honorary Associate Professor, University of Nottingham (2023 – current)
Editorial Board Member for the International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances (2021 – current)
Editorial Board Member for the British Journal of Community Nursing (2013 – current)
Selected Publications
Morgan L, Barclay S, Pollock K, Massou E, Bowers B. The financial costs of anticipatory prescribing: A retrospective observational study of prescribed, administered and wasted medications using community clinical records. Palliative Medicine 2023; 32(10): 1544-1561
Bowers B, Antunes BCP, Etkind S, Hopkins S, Winterburn I, Kuhn I, Pollock K, Barclay S. Anticipatory prescribing in community end-of-life care: systematic review and narrative synthesis of the evidence since 2017. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care 2023. Online First: 26 May 2023
Bowers B, Howard P, Madden B, Pollock K, Barclay S. Is end-of-life anticipatory prescribing always enough? British Medical Journal 2023; 381: p1106
O’Hara L, Evans C, Bowers B. Family carers’ administration of injectable medications at the end of life: a service evaluation of a novel intervention. British Journal of Community Nursing 2023; Online First
Bowers B, Wilson E. Managing medication at the end of life: supporting family carers. British Journal of Community Nursing 2023; 28(1):34-36
Bowers B, Pollock K, Barclay S. Simultaneously reassuring and unsettling: a longitudinal qualitative study of community anticipatory medication prescribing for older patients. Age and Ageing 2022. 51(12): Online First
Bowers B, Pollock K, Barclay S. Unwelcome memento mori or best clinical practice? Community end-of-life anticipatory medication prescribing practice: a mixed methods observational study. Palliative Medicine 2022; 36(1): 95-104
Majumder M, Bowers B, Pollock K, Goodman C, Kuhn I, Barclay S. End of life care in UK care homes – controlled drugs: systematic review and narrative synthesis. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care Online First: 29 June 2022
Antunes B, Bowers B, Barclay S, Gallagher J, Conci R, Polak L. Community-based anticipatory prescribing during COVID-19: a qualitative study. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care Online First: 1 June 2022
Bowers B, Pollock K, Dickman A, Ryan R, Barclay S. Anticipatory syringe pumps: benefits and risks. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care Published Online First: 19 January 2021
Bowers B, Pollock K, Oldman C, Barclay S. End-of-life care during COVID-19: opportunities and challenges for community nursing. British Journal of Community Nursing 2021; 26(1): 44-46
Papavasiliou E, Hoare S, Bowers B, Kelly MP, Barclay S. Out-of-hours services and end-of-life hospital admissions: A complex intervention systematic review and narrative synthesis. British Journal of General Practice 2021; 71(711): e780-e787
Bowers B, Barclay SS, Pollock K, Barclay S. General Practitioners’ decisions about prescribing end-of-life anticipatory medications: a qualitative study. British Journal of General Practice 2020; 70(699) e731-739
Bowers B, Pollock K, Barclay S. Administration of end-of-life drugs by family caregivers during covid-19 pandemic. British Medical Journal 2020; 369: m1615
Bowers B, Lovick R, Pollock K, Barclay S. Patient and public involvement in general practice research. British Journal of General Practice 2020; 70 (694): 220-221
Bowers B, Ryan R, Kuhn I, Barclay S. Anticipatory prescribing of injectable medications for adults at the end of life in the community: A systematic literature review and narrative synthesis. Palliative Medicine 2019; 33(2): 160-177