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Professor Steve Thomas

Edward Kennedy Professor of Health Polic (Public Health & Primary Care)

 Steve.Thomas@tcd.ie

 

Director Centre for Health Policy & Mgmt (School Office - Medicine)

 (3531896) 3880


Biography

Steve is the Director of the Centre for Health Policy and Management, the Edward Kennedy Chair of Health Policy and Management and a co-Director of the HRB-funded national SPHERE Programme in Population Health and Health Services Research. He is also the Director of Health Policy and Engagement for the School of Medicine. He has a wealth of international experience in policy oriented research and post-graduate teaching and education in government and academia over the last 25 years. His research interests include health systems evaluation, health financing, health economics and health policy analysis, and workforce planning and motivation. His track record in policy influence is outstanding. He led the Trinity team in support of the Oireachtas Committee for the Future of Healthcare and its production of Slaintecare. He coordinates the Health Economics and the Health Policy and Systems teaching on various post-graduate programmes. He is responsible for the design and evaluation of the SPHERE PhD programme which has successfully trained over 40 PhD candidates. He collaborates widely with national and international stakeholders in research, policy and education.

Research Tags

  Economics of health service provision   Government Studies   Health Care Economics   Health management   Health status and inequalities   Health Systems Integration   Identification and quantification of health care needs   Political Economics/Economy   Primary care   Public Planning/Policy   Public, private mix network

Research Projects

 Towards Dynamic Resilience in Health System Performance and Reform (RESTORE)
 Progressing Sláintecare delivery from proposal to implementation: Insights from palliative care in Ireland
 Health system foundations for effective Regional Integrated Care Organisations (RICOs) - co-producing evidence to inform the design of regional organisations to support integrated care in Ireland
 Out-of-hours provision of generalist and specialist palliative care services: An evidence review
 Identifying Best Practices in Waiting Time and Waiting List Reporting

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Representations

Details Date
Editorial Board Member: BIOMED Central - Globalisation and Health Oct 06 - Dec 08
Regular reviewer for Health Policy and Planning
Reviewer for BIOMED Central - Health Services Research
Reviewer for Social Science and Medicine
Honorary Editorial Board Member for Applied Health Economics and Health Policy 2004-2007
I provided technical support to the European Commission Health Systems Performance Assessment Working Group in its understanding, documentation and evaluation of health system resilience across the EU 2018-2020
I am an advisor to the Department of Health on its International Advisory Board of the Performance Accountability for the Irish Health System project 2020

Memberships

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

Details Date From Date To
Member of the International Health Economics Association 1998
Embracing and Disentangling from Private Finance: The Irish System in, editor(s)Colleen Flood and Bryan Thomas , Is two-tier health care the future?, Ottawa, University of Ottawa Press, 2020, pp291 - 314, [Stephen Thomas, Sarah Barry, Bridget Johnston, Rikke Siersbaek and Sara Burke ], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  URL
Bridget M. Johnston, Rachel McCauley, Regina McQuillan, Mary Rabbitte, Caitriona Honohan, David Mockler, Steve Thomas, Peter May, Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of out-of-hours palliative care: a systematic review [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review], HRB Open Research, 3, (9), 2020, p1-9 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Pilch, Monika, Lunt, Victoria, May, Peter, Mockler, David, Thomas, Stephen, Doyle, Frank, Facilitators and barriers to stakeholder engagement in advance care planning for older adults in community settings: a hybrid systematic review protocol, HRB Open Research, 3, 2020, p38 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Rikke Siersbaek; John Ford; Clíona Ní Cheallaigh;Sara Burke; Steve Thomas, How accessible is healthcare for single adults experiencing long-term homelessness and complex needs? A realist evaluation protocol, HRB Open Research , 2020, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Bridget M Johnston and Rachel McCauley and Mary Rabbitte and Regina McQuillan and Caitriona Honohan and David Mockler and Steve Thomas and Peter May, Evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of out-of-hours palliative care, Palliative Medicine, 2020, p026921632096955 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Burke, Sara, Thomas, Steve, Stach, Malgorzata, Kavanagh, Paul, Magahy, Laura, Johnston, Bridget, Barry, Sarah, Health system foundations for Sláintecare implementation in 2020 and beyond " co-producing a Sláintecare Living Implementation Framework with Evaluation: Learning from the Irish health system"s response to COVID-19. A mixed-methods study protocol, HRB Open Research, 3, 2020, p70 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Anna Sagan, Steve Thomas, Martin McKee, Marina Karanikolos, Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, Isabel de la Mata and Josep Figueras, COVID-19 and Health Systems Resilience: Lessons going forwards, Eurohealth, 26, (2), 2020, p20-24 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Bridget Johnston, Steve Thoms, Sara Burke, Can people afford to pay for health care? New evidence on financial protection in Ireland, Finacial Protection, Copenhagen, , WHO Regional Office for Europe, July, 2020, p1 - 118, Notes: [Evaluates impact on affordabilty of health care services and changes in policy over the austerity era, Recommends policy changes to protect households from impoverishing and catastrophic health care payments.], Report, PUBLISHED  URL
Steve Thomas, Anna Sagan, James Larkin, Jonathan Cylus, Josep Figueras, Marina Karanikolos, Strengthening health systems resilience. Key concepts and strategies, Policy Brief, Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, June, 2020, 1-33, Notes: [A review of existing literature enabled us to distil a number of strategies for strengthening health system resilience or a resilient response to a shock. It is important to remember that these strategies often overlap across the various stages of the shock cycle, as well as across various health systems. functions. Which strategies should be followed depends on the specific country context, the stage of the shock cycle, and the type and severity of the shock. The strategies we have identified are: (1) Effective and participatory leadership with a strong vision and communication (2) Coordination of activities across government and key stakeholders (3) Organizational learning culture that is responsive to crises (4) Effective information systems and flows (5) Surveillance enabling timely detection of shocks and their impact (6) Ensuring sufficient monetary resources in the system and flexibility to reallocate and inject extra funds (7) Ensuring stability of health system funding through countercyclical health financing mechanisms and reserves (8) Purchasing flexibility and reallocation of funding to meet changing needs (9) Comprehensive health coverage (10) Appropriate level and distribution of human and physical resources (11) Ability to increase capacity to cope with a sudden surge in demand (12) Motivated and well-supported workforce (13) Alternative and flexible approaches to deliver care We have also identified a wide range of assessment areas that have been applied to various aspects of health system resilience.], Report, PUBLISHED  URL
Johnston, B, Thomas, S, Burke, S., Can people afford to pay for health care? New evidence on financial protection in Ireland, 1st Edition, WHO Europe, WHO Europe, 2020, p1 - 118, Notes: [https://www.euro.who.int/en/publications/abstracts/can-people-afford-to-pay-for-health-care-new-evidence-on-financial-protection-in-ireland-2020], Report, PUBLISHED  URL
  

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Prof.. Richard Layte, Prof. Miriam Wiley, Dr Jacqueline O'Reilly, Dr Aoife Brick Dr Kathleen Bennett, Ms Maev-Ann Wren, Dr Steve Thomas , Projecting the Impact of Demographic Change on the Demand for and Delivery of Health Care in Ireland, Dublin, ESRI, 2008, Book, PUBLISHED
Stephen Thomas, Charles Normand, Samantha Smith, Tom O'Dowd, A new deal for primary care for the Irish people, Health Manager, (August/September), 2008, p17 - 18, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Stephen Thomas, Charles Normand, Samantha Smith, Social Health Insurance: Further Options for Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, Adelaide Hospital Society, 2008, Report, PUBLISHED
Irish Independent , (2006), Journal, PUBLISHED
Steve Thomas, International collaboration to stop pandemics, Irish Medical Times, 23, (44), 2006, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Stephen Thomas, Social Health Insurance Scoping Study: An Interim Report, Trinity College Dublin, May, 2006, Report, PUBLISHED
Stephen Thomas, Charles Normand and Samantha Smith, Social Health Insurance: Options for Ireland, Dublin, The Adelaide Hospital Society, November 23rd, 2006, Report, PUBLISHED
Gavin Mooney, Stephen Thomas and Michael Thiede, MESH and the Financing of PHC in South Africa, Health Economics Unit, University of Cape Town, 2004, Notes: [Health Economics Unit, University of Cape Town and Social and Public Health Research Group, Curtin University.], Book, PUBLISHED
Stephen Thomas and Okore Okorafor, Progress toward equity in the Financing of PHC services in South Africa, Third International Conference of the International Society for Equity in Health (ISEqH), Durban, 2004, Conference Paper, PRESENTED
Stephen Thomas, Sandi Mbatsha, Debbie Muirhead and Okore Okorafor, Primary Health Care Financing and Need across Health Districts in South Africa, Health Economics Unit, University of Cape Town, 2003, Notes: [Health Economics Unit, University of Cape Town and Centre for Health Policy, University of Witwatersrand. Cape Town 2003.], Book, PUBLISHED

  

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Awards and Honours

Award Date
Economics Scholarship, St Peter's College, Oxford October 1987
Fellowship, Institute for International Integration Studies June-July 2004

Research Interests

Description Of Research Interests

Health Financing and Universal Health Care; Health Policy Analysis; Human Resource Motivation and Workforce Planning Health System Resilience, Performance and Evaluation