Dr Ben Bowers
Honorary Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Honorary Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care, Queen's Nurse
Email: bb527@medschl.cam.ac.uk
Twitter: @Ben_Bowers__
Orcid:
Biography
Ben is an Honorary Associate Professor with NCARE. He is a clinical-academic community nurse, based with the University of Cambridge. Ben is a and practices clinically as an Honorary Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care. He is a Post-Doctoral Associate at Jesus College, Cambridge.
Ben was recently announced as one of the 75 nurses and midwives whose work has had an especially significant impact on the NHS since its creation. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Award for Outstanding Service in 2022 and the European Association for Palliative Care Early Researcher Award 2023, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to community nursing and palliative care research.
Expertise summary
- Last days of life symptom control
- Patients and families' experiences of care
- End of life care
- Medical ethics
- Qualitative and mixed-methods research
- Healthcare systems design
- Human factors in healthcare
- Patient safety
- Anticipatory prescribing
- Community-based palliative care interventions
Research summary
Ben leads a programme of interdisciplinary research focused on improving last-days-of-life symptom control for adults dying at home. Ben’s is investigating the human and system factors involved in the safe, effective and timely use of injectable symptom control medications at home. This research draws on social science, engineering design and patient safety disciplines. Ben is also researching general practice and community nursing provision of palliative care, and end-of-life decision-making.
Ben co-founded and leads the UK-wide QNI , with over 800 members to date.
Recent publications
Morgan L, Barclay S, Pollock K, Massou E, Bowers B. The financial costs of anticipatory prescribing: A retrospective observational study of prescribed, administered and wasted medications using community clinical records. 2023; 32(10): 1544-1561
Bowers B, Antunes BCP, Etkind S, Hopkins S, Winterburn I, Kuhn I, Pollock K, Barclay S. Anticipatory prescribing in community end-of-life care: systematic review and narrative synthesis of the evidence since 2017. 2023. Online First: 26 May 2023
Bowers B, Howard P, Madden B, Pollock K, Barclay S. Is end-of-life anticipatory prescribing always enough? 2023; 381: 1106
O’Hara L, Evans C, Bowers B. Family carers' administration of injectable medications at the end of life: a service evaluation of a novel intervention. 2023; Online First
Bowers B, Wilson E. Managing medication at the end of life: supporting family carers. 2023; 28(1):34-36
Bowers B, Pollock K, Barclay S. Simultaneously reassuring and unsettling: a longitudinal qualitative study of community anticipatory medication prescribing for older patients. 2022. 51(12): Online First
Bowers B, Pollock K, Barclay S. Unwelcome memento mori or best clinical practice? Community end-of-life anticipatory medication prescribing practice: a mixed methods observational study. 2022; 36(1): 95-104
Majumder M, Bowers B, Pollock K, Goodman C, Kuhn I, Barclay S. End of life care in UK care homes – controlled drugs: systematic review and narrative synthesis. Online First: 29 June 2022
Antunes B, Bowers B, Barclay S, Gallagher J, Conci R, Polak L. Community-based anticipatory prescribing during COVID-19: a qualitative study. Online First: 1 June 2022
Bowers B, Pollock K, Dickman A, Ryan R, Barclay S. Anticipatory syringe pumps: benefits and risks. Published Online First: 19 January 2021
Bowers B, Pollock K, Oldman C, Barclay S. End-of-life care during COVID-19: opportunities and challenges for community nursing. 2021; 26(1): 44-46
Papavasiliou E, Hoare S, Bowers B, Kelly MP, Barclay S. Out-of-hours services and end-of-life hospital admissions: A complex intervention systematic review and narrative synthesis. 2021; 71(711): e780-e787
Bowers B, Barclay SS, Pollock K, Barclay S. General Practitioners’ decisions about prescribing end-of-life anticipatory medications: a qualitative study. 2020; 70(699) e731-739
Bowers B, Pollock K, Barclay S. Administration of end-of-life drugs by family caregivers during covid-19 pandemic. 2020; 369: m1615
Bowers B, Lovick R, Pollock K, Barclay S. Patient and public involvement in general practice research. 2020; 70 (694): 220-221
Bowers B, Ryan R, Kuhn I, Barclay S. Anticipatory prescribing of injectable medications for adults at the end of life in the community: A systematic literature review and narrative synthesis. 2019; 33(2): 160-177