PHIRST South Bank
A multidisciplinary, cross school, collaborative centre that works with local authorities to deliver local, yet scalable, evaluations that will feed into the wider public health evidence base.The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funding six Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Teams (PHIRST) across the United Kingdom. Each PHIRST Team is made up of a group of academics from different disciplines, who evaluate public health initiatives set up by local authorities across the UK.
Public health works to protect and promote health and wellbeing across populations and reduce inequalities in health. It recognises that health is influenced by conditions where people live, learn, work, and play. Local authorities provide initiatives to try and improve public health, and we want to find out what works, what doesn’t work, and why.
PHIRST South Bank is a collaboration between five Research Centres across London South Bank University:
- Centre for Applied Research in Improvement and Innovation
- Centre for Addictive Behaviours
- Sports and Exercise Science Research Centre
- Centre for Civil and Building Services Engineering Research
- Centre for Global Justice and Social Responsibility
The team has a wealth of experience of working with local authorities and the voluntary sector researching public health and health inequalities. The interdisciplinary approach of the PHIRST South Bank team means it is well placed to respond to the multidimensional nature of public health priorities and the complex interventions designed to address them.
Further information about PHIRST can be found here: https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/
You can contact us at: phirst@lsbu.ac.uk
Good public health practice needs to be based on good evidence. We know how complex public health interventions are and we understand the challenges this creates for evaluation – especially when multiple stakeholders are involved. By acknowledging this complexity and bridging the gap with academia, public health, local government, and local communities, PHIRST South Bank delivers robust and compelling evaluations. We aim to provide rapid evaluations and actionable recommendations based on robust theory and evidence.
For each evaluation, we:
- Design our work in collaboration with the Local Authorities to ensure relevance, engagement and meaningful dissemination of findings
- Build capacity within the Local Authorities to strengthen research expertise and an evidence- based culture
- Design evaluations that are insightful for decision makers and fill the evidence gap in a way that is useful for the wider Public Health professional community and policy makers
- Embed Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) in all our functions. We aim to recruit members of public to a PPI panel for each intervention from the locality to ensure contribution of local lived experiences.
Central Team
PHIRST South Bank has a central team which oversee and support all of the evaluations the Centre will undertake. The current team is formed of:
Director: Prof. Susie Sykes
Senior Research Fellow: Dr. Thomas Mills
Senior Research Fellow: Dr. Jessica Owugha
Research Assistant: Dr Catherine Jenkins
PHIRST Administrator: Anita Hoque
Evaluation Manager: Emma Doohan
PHIRST Co-Investigator and Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Representative: Helen Cherry
Centre Executive Committee
PHIRST South Bank is overseen by a Centre Executive Committee, which is formed of:
In total, PHIRST South Bank will undertake 10 evaluations between 2020 and 2025. Please see the links below to learn more about the evaluations we are undertaking:
A realist evaluation of a public health community of practice advocacy project to restrict outdoor advertising of high fat, salt, and sugar foods.
Evaluation Lead: Prof. Susie Sykes
Evaluation Team: Dr. Megan Watkins, Dr Catherine Jenkins, Dr. Matthew Bond, Prof. Jane Wills
Evaluation of the impact of Essex Community Action Site upon Attitudes, Behaviour and public health Systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Essex
Evaluation Leads: Prof. Daniel Frings, Prof. Andrew Whittaker
Evaluation Team: Dr Megan Watkins, Dr Jaimee Mallon, Prof. Chris Flood, Prof. Susie Sykes, Prof. Jane Wills, Grace Wang, Catelyn Woelfe, Ella Barry
Evaluation of the development of a behaviour change unit and its contribution to local government.
Evaluation Lead: Prof. Jane Wills
Evaluation Team: Dr. Megan Watkins, Dr Eleni Vangeli, Kanar Ahmed,
Evaluation of a public health pathway for alcohol and substance users in the criminal justice setting in Nottinghamshire
Evaluation Lead: Prof. Edward Chaplin, Dr. Thomas Mills
Evaluation Team: Dr. Thomas Mills, Dr Jaimee Mallon, Manuela Jarrett, Denise Harvey
Greater Manchester Communities Addressing Gambling Harms
Evaluation Leads: Dr. Thomas Mills, Prof. Paula Reavey
Evaluation Team: Prof. Antony Moss, Prof. Ian Albery, Dr Catherine Jenkins
An evaluation of the change from face-to-face to telephone specialist smoking cessation service and its effects on underserved communities in Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes
Evaluation Lead: Prof. Lynne Dawkins
Evaluation Team: Dr. Thomas Mills, Prof. Daniel Frings, Dr Elisa Lewis
Reducing inequalities in exercise participation: Evaluation of the novel ‘Bracknell Forest Health and Well-Being Locality Service’ (BFHWBS)
Evaluation Lead: Prof. Katya Mileva
Evaluation Team: Dr Megan Watkins, Prof. Susie Sykes, Prof. Jane Wills, Dr. Lisa Zaidell, Terassa Taylor-Kaveney, Dr. Charles Graham, Prof. Chris Flood
An evaluation of a programme for young people in most need of mental health support (16–25-year-olds living in Central Bedfordshire)
Evaluation leads: Patrick Patrick Callaghan and Prof Paula Reavey
Evaluation team: Dr Jessica Owugha, Dr Catherine Jenkins, Prof Chris Flood
A process evaluation of the development and early implementation of a complex strategy to reduce serious youth violence in Lambeth - NIHR Public Health Interventions Research Studies Teams
Evaluation leads: Dr Tirion Havard and Dr Jessica Owugha
Evaluation team: Prof Susie Sykes, Dr Catherine Jenkins, Ms Rita Jacobs, Dr Felicity Morrow, Richard Ashiagbor, Ms Temi Onasanya