Melissa Surgey

Melissa is a Research Associate in the Health Organisation, Policy and Economics (HOPE) research group and Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research. She is currently working on a post-implementation review of the Health and Care Act 2022, commissioned by the NIHR's Policy Research Programme. This follows on from her PhD research which examined the form and function of commissioning in the new health and care system in England.

Prior to joining The University of Manchester, Melissa was a senior manager in the National Health Service (NHS) and is able to apply her experience of policymaking, strategic planning, commissioning and corporate governance to her research, as well as providing teaching support on the MPH Introduction to Health Policy unit.

Melissa began her health services career on the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme following her undergraduate degree. During this period she worked in a range of healthcare settings including acute hospital services, commissioning, and regional and national bodies. Alongside this she completed an MSc in Leadership and Service Improvement at the University of Manchester's Alliance Business School. 

In the decade following her management training, Melissa has worked in a range of senior management roles in the NHS commissioning system at both local and regional level. From 2014 to 2016 she was part of the team responsible for developing and implementing devolved health and social care arrangements in Greater Manchester - the first deal of its kind in England - and contributed to key policy including the Greater Manchester strategies for reform and commissioning. In 2016 Melissa was appointed Head of Planning, Performance and Policy at Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) where she oversaw £28.8m of "transformation funding" awarded to the locality as part of Greater Manchester devolution and supported the development of integrated health and social care commissioning arrangements with the local authority. 

Melissa also has consultancy and interim experience and has advised several NHS organisations on large-scale service re-design, strategy development and corporate governance. 

Committed to supporting leadership development in the NHS, Melissa continues to mentor individuals looking to progress in NHS leadership roles. In 2017 Melissa co-founded the North West NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme Alumni Network which provides networking and development opportunities to local health and care leaders. 

Passionate about social responsibility and community integration, Melissa applies her public sector management knowledge and skills to a range of voluntary roles, including offering free coaching to women across Greater Manchester through the Pankhurst Centre's Queen Bee Coaching programme. Since 2021, she has been a trustee of The Proud Trust, a Manchester based organisation that supports and advocates for LGBTQ+ young people, chairing its Governance Committee, and being elected Vice Chair of the Board in 2023.

Melissa joined the Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research in 2020 to commence her PhD research on the role of commissioners in place-based health and social care, funded by the economic sustainability theme of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration in Greater Manchester (ARC-GM). This project has been inspired by her experiences within the NHS commissioning system. The findings from this study are now informing the research she is undertaking as a Research Associate.

MSc Leadership and Service Improvement (2014) - Alliance Business School, The University of Manchester

BSc (Hons) Anatomical Sciences (2012) - The University of Manchester

Melissa's PhD research focuses on the form and function of commissioning in the new health and care system in England. Following this, she has continued her interest in health and social care reorganisation as part of a team conducting a post-implementation review of the Health and Care Act 2022.  Her primary research interests are:

• Integrated care systems and place-based working in health and social care
• Commissioning organisational form
• Governance and accountability mechanisms in health and social care
• The history and definition of place in health and local government policy
• Decentralisation and localism in public services
• Health and social care devolution

Masters in Public Health Introduction to Health Policy unit

• Professor Kath Checkland (primary supervisor)
• Dr Jonathan Stokes
• Dr Lynsey Warwick-Giles

Division Social Responsibility PGR representative

• Vice Chair, Governance Committee Chair and Trustee, The Proud Trust (2021 - Present)
• Volunteer coach, Queen Bee Coaching - women's leadership development initiative in partnership with The Pankhurst Centre which provides women from under-represented backgrounds with free leadership development coaching (2020 - Present)
• Secretary and Vice President, Manchester Women's Institute (2019 - 2021)