Two Bristol researchers recognised for work improving NHS research and dementia diagnosis

Two University of Bristol researchers have received national awards recognising work that is changing how health research reaches patients and how dementia is diagnosed in general practice.

Dr Ashley Hammond and Dr Sam Creavin, both based at Bristol’s Centre for Academic Primary Care, are among 40 people recognised through the NIHR20 Research Leaders Prizes.

Hammond’s work includes developing a new way to recruit patients into large primary-care trials through Integrated Care Boards rather than approaching individual GP practices one by one. She has also worked on antimicrobial-resistance research and ways to use existing national surveillance data more effectively.

Creavin was recognised for research aimed at improving the speed and accuracy of dementia diagnosis in primary care. His work also brings patients, carers, voluntary organisations and NHS teams into research design and delivery.

Both researchers receive a £10,000 professional-development award alongside leadership support. It is a useful reminder that better healthcare is not only built in laboratories. Sometimes it starts by fixing the less visible machinery of how evidence reaches ordinary GP surgeries.