Dr David Wright

David Wright is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Psychosocial Research in Cancer (CentRIC⁺) in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Southampton.

‘People living with and beyond cancer have highly complex needs. We need to ensure health services are supported to identify and address patient-identified problems effectively and swiftly from the point of diagnosis.’

David previously worked for the University of Southampton in the former Macmillan Research Unit, where he led the Macmillan Listening Study: the first study of its kind to involve people living with and beyond cancer in setting the direction of cancer research. This informed the UK’s National Cancer Survivorship Initiative, a programme led by the Department of Health and Macmillan Cancer Support to improve support for people recovering from cancer. David subsequently worked for Macmillan Cancer Support and the NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre, supporting the research management function. He then set up his own company, delivering evaluations and professional writing services to numerous clients, including the Stroke Association and the European Commission.

David joined the Macmillan Survivorship Research Group in March 2019, before it changed name to CentRIC⁺ in March 2022. He heads the Evaluation Programme for the group, including a diverse portfolio of evaluations on assessing patient-identified need, the delivery of integrated personalised care, and supporting early detection for seldom heard communities. David has a particular interest in quality improvement in health care. He recently completed a Health Foundation-funded study exploring the skills frontline NHS staff use to deliver quality improvement projects. David also supports HORIZONS, a large cohort study exploring the recovery of health and well-being in adults diagnosed with cancer.

David is a media representative for the British Psychosocial Oncology Society and supports the School of Health Science in its delivery of Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise activities.

Responsibilities:
David is an active member of the British Psychosocial Oncology Society, and sits on the executive committee as joint media representative.

Research interests:
David has an interest in personalised, integrated care and quality improvement. He collaborates with teams across the UK.

Current projects include:
1. Right by You Integrated (Wessex): A service evaluation (Funder: NHS England)
2. PRosPer (Pre/Rehabilitation and Personalised Care): Evaluation of an AHP education intervention (Funder: Macmillan Cancer Support)
3. Developing and testing a tool to support stratified care for people diagnosed with cancer (NHS England)
4. Communities Against Cancer: Qualitative evaluation (Funder: NHS England)
5. Cancer Nursing Across Boundaries (Funder: Health Education England)

Recently completed projects include:
• How relevant is the Patient Activation Measure in supporting personalised care for people diagnosed with cancer? (Funder: NHS England)
• Able to improve? How front-line staff transform and use quality improvement skills and knowledge: a formative evaluation based on ethnographically informed case studies (Funder: The Health Foundation)