Matt Horrocks awarded PhD

We would like to congratulate Dr Matt Horrocks for being awarded with his PhD funded by CLAHRC East Midlands.

Matt’s PhD was on the development of an electronic clinical decision support system to assist with the identification and management of suicidality. Read the PhD summary here: https://arc-em.nihr.ac.uk/phd-and-post-doc/development-electronic-clinical-decision-support-system-assist-identification-and

Currently working as a Assistant Professor of Mental Health and Psychological Therapies in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham, Matt said: “Having the opportunity to study this PhD, in the school of Health Sciences and embedded within CLAHRC East Midlands was a really special experience. I was able to learn more about the work that General Practitioners (GP) do to support people consulting with thoughts about suicide, and I was able to learn from people with lived experience about what helps them to trust in their GP as a first point of contact. I was able to bring these insights together to develop a decision support tool intended to help GPs work with people who might be on the pathway towards suicide. This is important because intervening earlier might prevent a future suicide attempt.  

“The opportunity to engage in research which aimed to translate evidence towards improving routine practice was a tremendous privilege. To be surrounded by a community of encouraging and engaged stakeholders, scholars, people with lived experience and clinicians was humbling and inspiring.

“I would like to thank everyone who contributed to my PhD study, especially my academic supervisors, the GPs and people with lived experience who gave of their time and expertise, the School of Health Sciences, the East Midlands AHSN and the ARC East Midlands community. Thank you for the endless support and encouragement which I received and benefited from as a PhD student and which made this a superb experience”.

Well done Matt on your achievements!