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Professor Steve Thomas

Edward Kennedy Professor of Health Polic (Public Health & Primary Care)
Director Centre for Health Policy & Mgmt (School Office - Medicine)
 (3531896) 3880
      
Profile Photo

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


Steve is the Edward Kennedy Chair of Health Policy and Management in the Centre for Health Policy and Management in the School of Medicine. He is also a Health Research Board Research Leader with his RESTORE programme, focussed on heath system resilience and reform. He has a wealth of international experience in policy oriented research and post-graduate teaching and education in government and academia over the last 28 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 delivers Health Economics, Health Policy and Health Systems teaching on various post-graduate programmes. He served for ten years as a co-Director of the national SPHERE PhD programme which has successfully trained over 65 PhD candidates. He collaborates widely with national and international stakeholders in research, policy and education.
  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
Project Title
 Towards Dynamic Resilience in Health System Performance and Reform (RESTORE)
From
1st November 2020
To
31st October 2025
Summary
This research programme examines the key challenges facing the Sláintecare reform programme and evaluates strategies to facilitate its effective and thorough implementation in a complex adaptive system. It reviews the causality of how shocks to the system (such as COVID and the 2008 financial crisis) challenge or even facilitate reform. In particular it evaluates public sector staff engagement over time both as a sign of resilience and a precondition for the implementation of effective change. The proposed research combines both qualitative data from stakeholder and key informant interviews, with quantitative data from surveys of health sector staff, alongside a review of key system metrics and the progress of reform. It will develop evidence-based strategies for policy makers in government to manage the competing tensions between system performance and reform to achieve universal care through enhanced resilience.
Funding Agency
Health Research Board
Programme
Research Leader Award
Project Type
Research Leader Award
Project Title
 Progressing Sláintecare delivery from proposal to implementation: Insights from palliative care in Ireland
From
1st January 2021
To
31st December 2023
Summary
Funding Agency
Health Research Board
Programme
'Applying Research into Policy and Practice' Post-doctoral Fellowships
Project Type
'Applying Research into Policy and Practice' Post-doctoral Fellowships
Project Title
 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
From
01/09/2019
To
31/08/2021
Summary
Funding Agency
Health Research Board, HSE and Department of Health
Programme
Applied Partnership Award
Project Title
 Out-of-hours provision of generalist and specialist palliative care services: An evidence review
From
01/08/2018
To
31/03/2019
Summary
Funding Agency
Health Research Board
Project Type
Evidence Review
Project Title
 Identifying Best Practices in Waiting Time and Waiting List Reporting
From
01/02/2018
To
30/04/2019
Summary
Funding Agency
National Treatment Purchase Fund
Project Type
Research

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Details Date
Editorial Board Member, Health Policy 2022-2025
I was an advisor to the Department of Health on its International Advisory Board of the Performance Accountability for the Irish Health System project 2020
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
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
Details Date From Date To
Member of the International Health Economics Association 1998
Wang F., Tobin K., Thomas S., Lowe R., Adrion E.R., Unmet need for home care during the great recession: a comparative analysis of England and Ireland, Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 2026, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Thomas S., O'Donoghue C., Farsaci L., Almirall-Sanchez A., Fleming P., Health System Resilience Challenged by a Financial Crisis: The Case of Ireland, Health System Resilience: Understanding Complex Adaptive Systems, 2025, p199 - 214, p199-214 , Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  DOI
Thomas S., O'Donoghue C., Almirall-Sanchez A., Farsaci L., Cumulative legacies and crisis decision-making in shocks to the Irish health system: A mixed methods analysis, Health Policy, 161, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Vork A., Pazitny P., Waitzberg R., Allin S., Behmane D., Bouckaert N., Bricard D., Bryndova L., Dimova A., Cascini F., Gaal P., Habimana K., Kantaris M., Kocot E., Kroneman M., Murauskiene L., Or Z., de Pietro C., Saunes I.S., Thomas S., Vrangbaek K., Rice T., The progressivity of health care revenue financing in 29 countries: A comparison, Health Policy, 159, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Wang F, Tobin K, Thomas S, Lowe R, Adrion ER, Unmet need, under-met need and public financing of home care in England., Ageing and Society, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Liz Farsaci, Padraic Fleming, Louise Caffrey, Sara Van Belle, Catherine O'Donoghue, Arianna Almirall Sanchez, David Mockler, Steve Thomas, Barriers and facilitators to international Universal Health Coverage reforms: A realist review, International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI  URL
Pilch, Monika and Hayes, Catherine B. and Harney, Owen and Doyle, Frank and Thomas, Stephen and Cooper Lunt, Victoria and Hogan, Michael, Using Collective Intelligence to Develop Design Requirements for a Complex Intervention for Advance Care Planning in the Community, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 34, (1), 2025, p230 â€" 246 , Notes: [Cited by: 0; All Open Access, Green Open Access, Hybrid Gold Open Access], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Conclusions: So what have we learned? in, editor(s)Steve Thomas and Padraic Fleming , Handbook of Health System Resilience, Edward Elgar, 2024, pp465 - 474, [Steve Thomas; Liz Farsaci; Catherine O"Donoghue; Arianna Almirall-Sanchez; Lucy Gilson; Stephanie M. Topp; Alastair Ager; Laura C. Rosella; Lynn Unruh; Shu-Ti Chiou et al.], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  DOI
Economics insights into shocks and health system resilience in, editor(s)Steve Thomas and Padraic Fleming , Handbook of Health System Resilience, Cheltenham UK, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024, pp29 - 43, [Steve Thomas], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  DOI
Steve Thomas, Padraic Fleming, Introduction: health system resilience - a concept whose time has come, Handbook of Health System Resilience, 2024, p1-11 , Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
  

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Kathleen Harkin, Jan Sorensen, Steve Thomas, OP37 Lifecycle Evaluation Models And Frameworks Used To Assess Medical Devices: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis, International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care (IJTAHC), HTAi 2022 Utrecht, Beatrix Theatre, Utrecht, Netherlands, 25-29 June 2022, 38, (S1), Cambridge University Press, 2022, ppS15 - S15, Oral Presentation, PUBLISHED
Kathleen Harkin, Thomas Steve, Sorensen Jan., Who Regulates Medical Devices? A Regulatory Review, 6th Annual SPHeRE Network Conference 2020, Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI), 123 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland, 25 February, 2020, Poster, PUBLISHED
Mandy Lee, Margaret Martin-Carroll, Wendy Von Mollendorff, Steve Thomas, Review of International Best Practices of Waiting List and Waiting Time Reporting Models for Elective Treatments in Acute Care , Ireland, National Treatment Purchase Fund, April, 2019, Report, PUBLISHED
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

  


Page 1 of 5
Award Date
Fellowship of Trinity College Dublin May 2021
Economics Scholarship, St Peter's College, Oxford October 1987
Fellowship, Institute for International Integration Studies June-July 2004
Health Financing and Universal Health Care; Health Policy Analysis; Human Resource Motivation and Workforce Planning Health System Resilience, Performance and Evaluation