“I wanted to see the impact research could have on a larger scale” - Dr Thomas Purchase on helping parents be heard

Dr Thomas Purchase, a GP and a Health and Care Research Wales National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Doctoral Fellow, is inviting parents, guardians and caregivers to help shape his research, which aims to ensure healthcare teams listen to the voices of parents when children are unwell.

Dr Thomas Purchase is a member of the Health and Care Research Wales Faculty and the Patient Safety team within the Division of Population Medicine at Cardiff University and supported by PRIME Centre Wales. His research primarily focuses on analysing patient safety data to generate evidence-based recommendations aimed at improving healthcare safety for vulnerable groups.

Studies show that 37% of child deaths in the UK involve factors that could potentially have been mitigated through earlier intervention or improvements in the healthcare system. 

Dr Purchase believes that empowering parents to voice their concerns more effectively could play a vital role in addressing this issue.

He said: 

We want to support parents in speaking up when they feel their child’s health is at risk. Often, parents are the first to sense that something is wrong, but they may feel unprepared to navigate a complex healthcare system to get their concerns heard.”

In his study, Dr Purchase is using a “human factors” approach to examine and optimise various elements, including communication practices, structural policies, cultural norms and interactions within the healthcare environment, in order to enhance safety across healthcare systems.

Through workshops and interviews with parents, clinicians and healthcare policymakers, the study aims to develop tools and practices that embed parental advocacy into the everyday functioning of primary care.

He added: “Our goal is not only to help parents advocate more effectively but also to ensure that the entire healthcare system is responsive to those advocacy efforts. By bringing together a broad range of voices, including parents who have experience navigating the healthcare system on behalf of their children, we hope to create sustainable solutions that improve patient safety.”

Dr Purchase has praised the invaluable support he received from the Health and Care Research Wales Faculty in advancing his research career, including his current Health and Care Research Wales/NIHR Health Research Doctoral Fellowship Award.

After graduating from the University of Birmingham in 2014, Dr Purchase completed his foundation training in South Wales before relocating to Australia, where he worked in emergency medicine in Adelaide.

His experiences solidified his passion for patient safety - an interest he carried back to the UK, ultimately leading him to pursue GP training and later an academic post at Cardiff University’s Division of Population Medicine as an Academic Fellow.

Dr Purchase said: 

I knew I wanted to make a difference, but my interest in research came from wanting to see the impact it could have on a larger scale.”

For Dr Purchase, the fellowship marks a significant step in his career as he builds expertise in patient safety research and pursues his long-term goal of improving the quality and safety of care for vulnerable populations.

He said: 

This fellowship allows me to continue my journey as a clinical academic. I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to research that can make a real impact, and I look forward to seeing how we can strengthen the role of parental advocacy within primary care.”

If you are a parent, guardian or caregiver with personal experience of a child who faced challenges or issues in primary healthcare when they were unwell, or have needed support from primary care when something has gone wrong elsewhere, your help in shaping this study could play a crucial role in improving the safety of children in healthcare settings.  

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