Professor Al Ross

Professor

Allied Health and Social Work

I am a Chartered Ergonomist and Psychologist and Professor of Health Systems at the University of Staffordshire where I am course lead for the part-time distance learning MSc and PGCert in Human Factors for Patient Safety.

I direct the Research Centre for Health Innovation (R-CHI). My recent research funders include the European Commission, the Health Foundation and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

I have also previously worked as a Human Factors researcher and consultant across a range of settings including Rail, Defence and Civil Nuclear. My books include ‘Beyond Human Error’ (CRC Press) and ‘Safety Management: A Qualitative Systems Approach’ (Taylor and Francis).

Professional memberships and activities

  • Chartered Ergonomist
  • Registered Member of the CIEHF
  • Chartered Psychologist
  • Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society 
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Academic qualifications

  • Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, University of Glasgow, 2016
  • PhD in Psychology, University of Strathclyde, 2003
  • MSc in Research Methods in Psychology, University of Strathclyde,1993
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology (with Merit), University of Hull, 1992
  • BSc in Social Science, University of Edinburgh, 1987

Expertise

  • Human Factors & Ergonomics
  • Patient Safety and Quality Improvement

Research interests

  • Health, Social Care and Public Health systems

Grants

  • NIHR Global Health Group on Oral Health - link

Enterprise and commercial interests

I have no commercial interests but have had a number of paid advisory roles with small honoraria including: Scientific Advisor on Patient Safety and Quality Improvement to NHS Education for Scotland; Human Factors Advisor, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust; 2019-21; External Examiner (various).

Teaching

Postgraduate

  • Human Factors applied to health and social care
  • Research and evaluation skills and methods
  • Supervision of PG dissertations
  • Implementation science and complex interventions
  • Public health
  • Human factors for Patient Safety

Publications

Guarnizo-Herreño, C.C, Stennett, M, Mutave, R, Angeiras de Goes, P.S., Chatterjee, M, Mathur, M, Mehta, A, ROSS, Al, Conway, D.I. and Watt, R.G. (2026) Advancing global oral health research through community and academic partnerships: An overview of the CORE programme. Community Dentistry And Oral Epidemiology. ISSN 1600-0528

Anderson, JE and ROSS, Al (2026) The CARE model: A research tool for understanding resilience. In: Translating Resilience into Healthcare Practice: Multilevel Theories and Perspectives. Routledge. ISBN 9781032776989 (In Press)  

Creaney, G, Lyra González, I, Cuello, M, de Aquino Goulart, M, McMahon, A, Paterson, C, McCaul, J, Popovic, M, Richiardi, L, Lopez de Blanc, S, Curado, M, Vilensky, M, HEADSpAcE Consortium, _, Alwaheidi, S, Brennan, P, Virani, S, ROSS, Al and Conway, DI (2026) Health System Factors in Head and Neck Cancer Diagnosis: A HEADSpAcE Consortium Qualitative Study in Glasgow and Montevideo. Head and Neck. ISSN 1097-0347

Abuhaloob, L, Conway, D, Blokland, A and ROSS, Al (2025) International consensus on fluoride programmes for Early Childhood Caries prevention in early education settings: A systematic overview and Delphi approach. Community Dental Health. ISSN 0265539X

Creaney, G, de Aquino Goulart, M, McMahon, A, Paterson, C, McCaul, J, Perdomo, S, Mendoza, L, Alemany, L, Rebolho Arantes, L.M, Rodriguez Urrego, P.A, Dudding, T, Pring, M, Vilensky, M, Cuffini, C, Lopez de Blanc, S.A, de Oliveira, J.C, Pervez, S, Saintigny, P, Cuello, M, Betka, J, Ribeiro Pinto, L.F, Curado, M.P, Zendehdel, K, Richiardi, L, Popovic, M, de Podesta, J.R, von Zeidler, S.V, Rocha, R.M, Alwaheidi, S, Brennan, P, Virani, S, ROSS, Al and Conway, D (2025) Advanced stage head and neck cancer diagnosis: HEADSpAcE consortium health systems benchmarking survey. Head and Neck. ISSN 1097-0347

Fletcher, E, Sherriff, A, Diujster, D, de Jong-Lenters, M and ROSS, Al (2025) Developing a prototype home-based toothbrushing support tool for families in Scotland: a mixed-methods study with modified Delphi survey and semi-structured interviews. Community Dentistry And Oral Epidemiology. ISSN 1600-0528

PHILLIPS, Charlotte, SMITH, Hazel, CRISP, Elizabeth, Carter, Vanda, Donelly, H, ROSS, Al, Bowie, P, LATHAM, Cal and JONES, Sarahjane (2025) Exploring students’ perceptions and experiences of raising concerns during pre-registration training in England: A Systematic Review. Journal Of Advanced Nursing. ISSN 1365-2648

Golby, R, Lobban, F, Laverty, L, Velemis, K, Aggarwal, V, Berry, K, Morris, A, Elliot, E, Harris, R, ROSS, Al, Chew-Graham, C, Budd, M, McGowan, L, Shiers, D, French, P, Griffiths, R and Palmier-Claus, J (2024) Understanding how, why and for whom link work interventions promote access in community healthcare settings in the United Kingdom: A realist review. Health Expectations. ISSN 1369-7625

ATAIYERO, Yetunde, Stimpson, Emma, Hall, Helen, Ashby, Helen, DUBE, Alisen, Carter, Vanda, SMITH, Hazel, ROSS, Al, Copping, Jacky, Morris, Paul and JONES, Sarahjane (2024) Evaluating the impact of a ward environment with 20 single occupancy rooms and two four-bedded bays on patient and staff experiences and outcomes in an acute NHS Trust: A mixed methods study protocol. BMJ Open. ISSN 2044-6055

Smith, CDL, McMahon, AD, Lyall, DM, Goulart, M, Inman, GJ, ROSS, Al, Gormley, M, Duddling, T, Macfarlane, GJ, Robinson, M, Richiardi, L, Serraino, D, Polesel, J, Canova, C, Ahrens, W, Healy, CM, Lagiou, P, Holcatova, I, Alemany, L, Znoar, A, Waterboer, T, Brennan, P, Virani, S and Conway, DI (2024) Development and external validation of a head and neck cancer risk prediction model. Head and Neck. ISSN 1097-0347  

Bowie, P, Ross AJ, Purchase T et al. Patient safety learning for healthcare improvement: considering the" system context" in medico-legal cases? Journal of Personal Injury Law (In Press)

Randall CL et al. Perspectives on the Future of Dissemination and Implementation Research in Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 51(1), pp. 143-148.

Ross, AJ et al. A qualitative study of organisational resilience in care homes in Scotland, PLOS ONE, 17(12), e0279376.

Sujan, M., Pickup, L., de Vos, M.S. et al. (2023) 'Operationalising FRAM in Healthcare: A critical reflection on practice', Safety Science, 158, pp. 105994.

Smith, CDL et al. Risk Prediction Models for Head and Neck Cancer: a Rapid Review, Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology, 7(6), pp. 1893-1908.

Creaney G et al. Head and Neck Cancer in the UK – what was the stage prior to COVID-19? UK cancer registries analysis (2011-2018), British Dental Journal, 233(9), pp. 787-793.

Ross, A. J. et al. (2022) Evaluating Childsmile, Scotland’s national oral health improvement programme for children. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 51(1), pp. 133-138.

Khamuani, S., Ross, A. and Robertson, D. (2022) Factors affecting the quality of endodontic treatment in general dental practice in Scotland: A qualitative focus group study. British Dental Journal, 233(2), pp. 129-133.

Evans, K., Woodruff, J., Cowley, A., Bramley, L., Miles, G., Ross, A. , Cooper, J. and Baxendale, B. (2022) GENESISS 2—Generating Standards for In-Situ Simulation project: a systematic mapping review. BMC Medical Education, 22, 537.

Baxendale, B., Evans, K., Cowley, A., Bramley, L., Miles, G., Ross, A. , Dring, E. and Cooper, J. (2022) GENESISS 1 - Generating Standards for In-Situ Simulation project: a scoping review and conceptual model. BMC Medical Education, 22(1), 479.

Mathur, S., Conway, D. I. , Macpherson, L. M.D. and Ross, A. J. (2022) Systematic overview of systematic reviews and clinical guidelines: assessment and prevention of behavioural risk factors associated with oral cancer to inform dental professionals in primary care dental practices. Evidence-Based Dentistry, (doi: 10.1038/s41432-022-0235-1) (PMID:35256757) (Early Online Publication)

Slater, D., Hollnagel, E., MacKinnon, R., Sujan, M., Carson-Stevens, A., Ross, A. and Bowie, P. (2022) A systems analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic response in the United Kingdom - part 1 - the overall context. Safety Science, 146, 105525.

Sujan M, Bilbro N, Ross A, Earl L, Ibrahim M, Bond-Smith G, Ghaferi A, Pickup L, McCulloch P. (2022) Failure to rescue following emergency surgery: a FRAM analysis of the management of the deteriorating patient. Applied Ergonomics, 98, 103608.

Young, M., Ross, A. , Sherriff, A. , Deas, L. and Gnich, W. (2021) Child health interventions delivered by lay health workers to parents: a realist review. Journal of Child Health Care, 25(4), pp. 628-646.

Conway DI, Hovanec J, Ahrens W, et al. Occupational socioeconomic risk associations for head and neck cancer in Europe and South America: individual participant data analysis of pooled case–control studies within the INHANCE Consortium J Epidemiol Community Health 2021;75:779-787.

Siyang Yuan, S., Humphris, G., Macpherson, L. , Ross, A. and Freeman, R. (2021) Communicating with parents and preschool children: a qualitative exploration of dental professional-parent-child interactions during paediatric consultations to prevent early childhood caries. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 669395.

Yuan, S., Humphris, G., Macpherson, L. , Ross, A. and Freeman, R. (2021) Communication strategies to encourage child participation in an oral health promotion session: An exemplar video observational study. Health Expectations, 24(2), pp. 700-708.

Bowie, P., Baylis, D., Price, J., Bradshaw, P., McNab, D., Ker, J., Carson-Stevens, A. and Ross, A. (2021) Is the “never event” concept a useful safety management strategy in complex primary healthcare systems? International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 33(Suppl1), pp. 25-30.

Anderson, J.E., Ross, A.J. , Macrae, C. and Wiig, S. (2020) Defining adaptive capacity in healthcare: a new framework for researching resilient performance. Applied Ergonomics, 87, 103111.

Anderson, J.E., Ross, A. , Back, J., Duncan, M., Snell, P., Hopper, A. and Jaye, P. (2020) Beyond ‘find and fix’: improving quality and safety through resilient healthcare systems. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 32(3), pp. 204-211.

Ross, A. , Murrels, T., Kirby, T., Jaye, P. and Anderson, J.E. (2019) An integrated statistical model of Emergency Department length of stay informed by Resilient Health Care principles. Safety Science, 120, pp. 129-136.

Yuan, S., Humphris, G., Macpherson, L. , Ross, A. and Freeman, R. (2019) Development of an Interaction Coding Scheme (PaeD-TrICS) to record the triadic communication behaviours in preventive dental consultations with preschool child patients and families: a video-based observational study. BMC Oral Health, 19, 162.

Yuan, S., Humphris, G., Ross, A. , Macpherson, L. and Freeman, R. (2019) Recording communication in primary dental practice: an exploratory study of interactions between dental health professionals, children and parents. British Dental Journal, 227, pp. 887-892.

Anderson, J.E., Ross, A. J. , Lim, R., Kodate, N., Thompson, K., Jensen, H. and Cooney, K. (2019) Nursing teamwork in the care of older people: A mixed methods study. Applied Ergonomics, 80, pp. 119-129.

Hodgins, F., Sherriff, A. , Gnich, W., Ross, A. J. and Macpherson, L. M.D. (2018) The effectiveness of Dental Health Support Workers at linking families with primary care dental practices: a population-wide data linkage cohort study. BMC Oral Health, 18, 191.

Yuan, S., Humphris, G., Ross, A. , MacPherson, L. , Zhou, Y. and Freeman, R. (2018) A mixed-methods feasibility study protocol to assess the communication behaviours within the dental health professional-parent-child triad in a general dental practice setting. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 4, 136.

McNab, D., Bowie, P., Ross, A. , MacWalter, G., Ryan, M. and Morrison, J. (2018) A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of pharmacist-led medication reconciliation in the community after hospital discharge. BMJ Quality and Safety, 27(4), pp. 308-320.

Ross, A. , Sherriff, A. , Kidd, J., Gnich, W., Anderson, J.E., Deas, L. and Macpherson, L. (2018) A systems approach using the functional resonance analysis method to support fluoride varnish application for children attending general dental practice. Applied Ergonomics, 68, pp. 294-303.

Lee, Y. and Ross, A. (2018) Projected speciality career choices amongst undergraduate dental students in Scotland. British Dental Journal, 224(1), pp. 32-37.

External profiles

for Career Prospects

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2025

for Social Inclusion

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026

for First Generation Students

The Mail University Guide 2026

in the UK for Games Education

Rookies Games Design and Development 2023, 2025

TIGA Best Games Institution 2024, 2025

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021