I am a social scientist with over 15 years of experience in health policy research. I have a broad and deep understanding of the current health system in the UK, having led research in this area. I have a strong publication record, ensuring timely dissemination at academic and professional conferences, and effective engagement with policymakers.

My main area of research is in primary care policy, specifically workforce and commissioning. 

I have worked as a core member of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) funded Policy Research Unit in Commissioning and the Healthcare System (PRUComm) and currently lead research projects and evaluations funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and NHS England. 

Paper awards

The Role of Routines in the Implementation of Skill-mix Change in General Practice.

Best paper award winner at the 14th Organisational Behaviour in Health Care Conference. This paper is based on an NIHR-funded research project studying skill mix change in general practice.  The OBHC 24 Scientific Committee’s Best Paper judges commented that this paper “explores an important topic, which is also of great practical interest to those leading the organisation of primary healthcare in the context of an ongoing workforce crisis. It is novel and original in its attempt to leverage the routine theory for illuminating the issues related to skill-mix, and the authors should be commended for collecting, analysing and presenting a rich data set.”

Who do we think we are? Analysing the content and form of identity work in the English National Health Service.

Highly Commended Paper by the Journal of Health Organisation & Management. The Editors thought the paper was “one of the most impressive pieces of work the [Editorial] team has seen in the year”. In this paper, I introduced a novel approach analysing health policy and health services research.  

Health Policy & Politics Network

Member of the University of Manchester Research Ethics Committee (January 2013 - October 2015)

Realist Evaluation, Normalisation Process Theory, Linguistic Ethnography, (Critical) Discourse Analysis, Argumentation Theory, Systemic Functional Linguistics.

PhD Theoretical & Applied Linguistics, University of Edinburgh

Graduate Diploma in Psychology, Monash University

BSc (Hons) in Banking and Finance, London School of Economics

Ongoing projects

Assessing the Contributions of Additional Role Practitioners to general practice in England (CARPE)

• Principal investigator: Dr Sharon Spooner
• Team members: Dr Imelda McDermott, Professor Kath Checkland, Professor Matt Sutton, Dr Maria Panagioti

Evaluation of independent prescribing in community pharmacy pathfinders

• Principal investigator: Dr Imelda McDermott
• Team members: Professor Ellen Schafheutle, Dr Sarah Willis, Dr Jon Gibson, and Adrian Moss (ICF). 

Pharmacist personas

• Principal investigator: Dr Imelda McDermott
• Team members: Professor Ellen Schafheutle

Realist evaluation of the NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) for urgent, low acuity conditions, how, when, why, for whom and to what extent does it work to benefit patients.

• Principal investigator: Professor Ellen Schafheutle
• Team members: Dr Imelda McDermott (project lead), Johnny Phuong, Dr Sarah Willis, Dr Penny Lewis, Dr Sharon Spooner, Dr Shoba Dawon, Antony Chuter, Professor Geoff Wong and Professor Margaret Watson. 

Evaluation of Newly Qualified Pharmacists Pathway

• Principal investigator: Dr Imelda McDermott
• Team members: Professor Ellen Schafheutle, Dr Sarah Willis, Adrian Moss (ICF), Lauren Blum (ICF)
• Full report (October 2023)

Market Research to understand what motivates people to choose a career as a Pharmacy Technician.

• Principal investigator: Professor Ellen Schafheutle
• Team members: Dr Imelda McDermott, Dr Sarah Willis, Dr Ali Hindi, Adrian Moss (ICF)

Market Research to understand factors contributing to pharmacy technician attrition from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) register.

• Principal investigator: Professor Ellen Schafheutle
• Team members: Dr Imelda McDermott, Dr Sarah Willis, Dr Ali Hindi, Adrian Moss (ICF)

Evaluation of the Integrated Pre-Registration Trainee Pharmacy Technician (IPTPT) Training Pilot

• Principal investigator: Professor Ellen Schafheutle
• Team members: Dr Imelda McDermott, Dr Ali Hindi, Dr Sarah Willis
• Full report (May 2022)
• Executive summary (May 2022)

An investigation of the scale, scope and impact of skill mix change in primary care

• Principal investigator: Dr Sharon Spooner
• Team members: Dr Imelda McDermott, Dr Jon Gibson, Dr Mark Hann, Professor Kath Checkland, Professor Matt Sutton, Professor Damian Hodgson, Professor Anne McBride
• Full report (May 2022)

Investigating recent developments in the new commissioning system

• Principal investigator: Professor Pauline Allen
• Team members: Dr Valerie Moran, Dr Imelda McDermott

Exploring the development of Clinical Commissioning Groups: Understanding primary care co-commissioning - uptake, development and impacts (CCG3)

• Principal investigator: Professor Kath Checkland
• Team members: Dr Imelda McDermott, Dr Anna Coleman, Dr Lynsey Warwick-Giles, Dr Donna Bramwell, Dr Valerie Moran, Mr Oz Gore
• Full report (March 2018)
• Achieving integrated care through commissioning of primary care services in the English NHS: a qualitative analysis

Exploring the ongoing development and impact of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG2)

• Principal investigator: Dr Kath Checkland
• Team members: Dr Anna Coleman, Dr Imelda McDermott, Mr Neil Perkins, Dr Dorota Osipovic, Dr Christina Petsoulas

Exploring the early workings and impact of emerging Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG1)

• Principal investigator: Dr Kath Checkland
• Team members: Dr Anna Coleman, Professor Steve Harrison, Professor Stephen Peckham, Dr Imelda McDermott, Dr Julia Segar, Rosalind Miller, Dr Andrew Wallace, Dr Christina Petsoulas

Management practice in PCTs: the role of middle managers

• Principal investigator: Dr Kath Checkland
• Team members: Dr Stephanie Snow, Dr Imelda McDermott, Professor Steve Harrison, Dr Anna Coleman

Alternative providers of Primary Care (APPC)

• Principal investigator: Professor Steve Harrison
• Team members: Dr Anna Coleman, Dr Kath Checkland, Dr Imelda McDermott

Professional attitudes and behaviours of doctors in the United Kingdom and the United States

• Principal investigator: Professor Bonnie Sibbald
• Collaborators: Professor Steve Harrison, Dr Mark Hann, Dr George Dowswell, Dr Alex Walter, Prof Martin Roland , Prof Bruce Guthrie , Prof Eric Campbell