Derek Bell

Appointed as the first Professor of Acute Medicine within the UK within the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London. The Department of Acute Medicine is now established and based at the Chelsea and Westminster Campus. The department is the leading academic department in this field and has an increasing research portfolio of work including the NIHR CLAHRC for Northwest London, a £20M research programme now in its 8th year. The programme is designed to accelerate research into practice and has succesfully supported over 60 change projects and is developing a new systematic approach to delivery of health care including the use of big data and high fidelity quality improvement methods.

Other areas of research interest inlcude the organisation and delivery of health care in relation to patient outcomes and the using co-production as an essential part of research design and care delivery. In addition the department has growing expertise in the role of patient and public involvement in research and has over 30 staff. The department coordinates modules in three Imperial College Masters programmes including Global Health. He is currently President of the Royal College of Physicians and advisor to several government programmes.

Previous appointments include;

• Associate Medical Director for the Acute Division of NHS Lothian.
• Inaugural President of the Society for Acute Medicine and involved in developing Acute Medicine as a distinct specialty.
• National Clinical Director Unscheduled Care Collaborative for the Scottish Government.
• National Clinical Director Emergency Services Collaborative the Modernisation Agency.

Graduated from Edinburgh University in 1980 and was a Lecturer in the Department of Medicine with an MD on the inflammatory response to myocardial infarction. Initially specialised in Chest and General Medicine with an interest in Intensive Care and was appointed as Consultant, Central Middlesex Hospital, London before moving to Edinburgh as a Consultant in Acute Medicine and Chest Medicine.

Currently serves on several National Committees. Academic research interests relate to quality and organisation of care, particularly acute medical care, and in the methods of delivery of care. Clinical research interests include illness severity assessment, pulmonary embolism and pneumonia.

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

• Reed JE, Howe C, Doyle C, et al., 2018, Simple rules for evidence translation in complex systems: a qualitative study, BMC Medicine, Vol:16, ISSN:1741-7015
• Angus DC, Barnato AE, Bell D, et al., 2015, A systematic review and meta-analysis of early goal-directed therapy for septic shock: the ARISE, ProCESS and ProMISe Investigators, Intensive Care Medicine, Vol:41, ISSN:0342-4642, Pages:1549-1560
• Mouncey PR, Osborn TM, Power GS, et al., 2015, Trial of early, goal-directed resuscitation for septic shock, New England Journal of Medicine, Vol:372, ISSN:0028-4793, Pages:1301-1311
• Bell D, Ward D, Percival F, et al., 2012, An evaluation of Consultant input into acute medical admissions management in England