Dr Jo Butterworth

NIHR clinical lecturer in general practice and medical education

I am an academic GP with research interests in shared decision-making (SDM) as a core component of patient-centred, personalised care and in people who live with multiple long-term conditions (MLTC). I continue to practice and have clinical interests in women’s health.

I have been a member of the Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) at the University of Exeter since 2009, most recently securing a four-year NIHR-funded academic clinical lectureship, commencing October 2023. This means that I am also now a member of the Health Professions Education and Wellbeing (HPEWB) research group. I co-lead the Primary Care Delivery theme at APEx and I am a member of the strategy board. I oversee the PhD peer support group at HPEWB.

My academic career began with undergraduate research (Wellcome trust and RCGP student prizes) which led to publication, an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) and a Masters in Primary Care Research. During the ACF, I published a secondary analysis of national survey data, identifying that patients’ reports of involvement in SDM were more strongly associated with reports of trust in the GP among older people compared with younger people. In the subsequent interview study, I found that living with MLTC affected patient experiences of involvement. 

My NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship addressed gaps in the evidence, with a view to improving patient care. My PhD (£430,304; January 2018 – June 2023) was titled: Development of a complex intervention (‘VOLITION’) aimed at facilitating the involvement of older people living with MLTC in decision-making about their health care during GP consultations. I used six-step Intervention Mapping (IM) as a framework to develop an evidence-based complex intervention, underpinned by theory and relevant to the context of a socioecological model for UK health and social care.

As a new NIHR clinical lecturer 

·       I was awarded a starter grant from the Academy of Medical Sciences (£30,000; September 2024 – August 2026), to coproduce the VOLITION intervention from my PhD with stakeholders including members of the public from diverse cultural backgrounds. The coproduction work aims to ensure a tailorable intervention that can meet the needs of diverse populations. A grant from the NIHR School for Primary Care Research (SPCR) – September 2025 - will enable some qualitative feasibility work to test this hypothesis.

·       I was successful in a competitive application process to join the Cross-NIHR-Collaboration for MLTC – Models of Care workstream. I lead an NIHR Team Science project (January 2025 - December 2026) to set research priorities for MLTC Models of Care, on behalf of the workstream.

Qualifications:

Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Studies, University of Exeter, 2023

Masters degree in Primary Care Research (MRes), University of Manchester (online learning), 2013

Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP), 2013

Diploma from the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (DFSRH), 2012

Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery (BMBS - Distinction), Peninsula Medical School, 2007