Dr Ben Bowers

Honorary Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Honorary Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care, Queen's Nurse

Twitter: @Ben_Bowers__

Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6772-2620

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 Wellcome Post-Doctoral Research Fellow 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 Wellcome post-doctoral interdisciplinary research 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 Community Nursing Research Forum, 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. Palliative Medicine 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. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care 2023. Online First: 26 May 2023

Bowers B, Howard P, Madden B, Pollock K, Barclay S. Is end-of-life anticipatory prescribing always enough? British Medical Journal 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. British Journal of Community Nursing 2023; Online First

Bowers B, Wilson E. Managing medication at the end of life: supporting family carers. British Journal of Community Nursing 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. Age and Ageing 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. Palliative Medicine 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. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care 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. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care Online First: 1 June 2022

Bowers B, Pollock K, Dickman A, Ryan R, Barclay S. Anticipatory syringe pumps: benefits and risks. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care 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. British Journal of 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. British Journal of General Practice 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. British Journal of General Practice 2020; 70(699) e731-739

Bowers B, Pollock K, Barclay S. Administration of end-of-life drugs by family caregivers during covid-19 pandemic. British Medical Journal 2020; 369: m1615

Bowers B, Lovick R, Pollock K, Barclay S. Patient and public involvement in general practice research. British Journal of General Practice 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. Palliative Medicine 2019; 33(2): 160-177