Dr Beck Taylor BMedSc, MBChB, MPH, FFPH, PhD

Beck Taylor

Department of Applied Health Sciences
Clinical Senior Lecturer
Honorary Consultant in Public Health

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 2848
Email
r.taylor.3@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
Address
Murray Learning Centre
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT

Beck is a Clinical Senior Lecturer working on the Maternity Theme of the NIHR West Midlands ARC programme. She is also an Honorary Consultant at Public Health England. Her research focuses on evaluating maternity services and policy, working in collaboration with women and staff. As a public health doctor she is trained to think at population and system-level. She has skills in qualitative and quantitative research and evaluation and evidence synthesis, designing research which matches the method to the research question.

Interests include:

  • Organisation and improvement of health systems, particularly in maternity.
  • The role of the workforce in health improvement, particularly the role of midwives, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø health workers and paraprofessionals. 
  • Inequalities and health improvement in maternal and child health.

Qualifications

  • PhD 2016
  • FFPH 2015
  • Higher Education Academy Associate 2013
  • MPH 2007
  • MBChB 2003
  • BMedSc 2001

Biography

Beck qualified in medicine, working in a range of specialties before moving into clinical public health in roles across the East and West Midlands. She joined the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø in 2009 to work on an NIHR-funded national evaluation, and undertake a doctorate focusing on the role of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø health workers, alongside completing specialist training in public health.   

Since 2014 Beck has worked on Maternity Theme of the West Midlands NIHR CLAHRC and ARC programmes, working with maternity services, staff and women to improve services, outcomes and policy. She is also involved in a number of nationally-funded research projects. 

Her focus is on real-world evaluation and implementation of health improvement interventions, pathways and policies in complex health systems, including the use of rapid methods to deliver findings quickly.

Teaching

Postgraduate supervision

Beck is available to supervise PhD students in areas related to her current research interests.

Research

Key research interests include maternity and child health, health service organisation and policy, and public health. 

Current/recent work includes:

- NIHR ARC projects to explore, evaluate and improve:

- Neonatal jaundice pathways

- 24-7 obstetrician presence on the labour ward

- Early postnatal discharge

- Midwife perspectives of continuity-based models of care

-Impact of COVID-19 on postnatal care

  • The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Assets-based feeding help Before and After birth (ABA-feed trial) (NIHR PHR)
  • Local Authority Research Systems: identifying the capacity and infrastructure needs of Birmingham City Council (NIHR PHR)
  • Tackling Multimorbidity at Scale MuM-PreDiCT (UKRI/NIHR)
  • Achieving closure?  Improving outcomes when care homes close. (NIHR Programme Grant)
  • Evaluation of policy-driven local transformation of maternity services (NHS-funded)

Other activities

  • Honorary consultant contract held with Public Health England (since 2017)

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Jones, E, Quinn, L, Tanner, J-R, Jankovic, J, Berrisford, G, MacArthur, C & Taylor, B 2025, '', The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, vol. 53, 101312.

Cockburn, N, Hammond, B, Gani, I, Cusworth, S, Acharya, A, Gokhale, K, Thayakaran, R, Crowe, F, Minhas, S, Smith, WP, Taylor, B, Nirantharakumar, K & Chandan, JS 2024, '', BMC Medical Research Methodology, vol. 24, no. 1, 144.

Cross-Sudworth, F, Taylor, B & Kenyon, S 2024, '', Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 240-247.

Pritchett, RV, Rudge, G, Taylor, B, Cummins, C, Kenyon, S, Jones, E, Morad, S, MacArthur, C & Jolly, K 2024, '', BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.

UK Audit and Research Collaborative in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (UKARCOG) Members 2024, '', PLoS ONE, vol. 19, no. 2, e0297857.

Hanley, SJ, McCann, S, Lee, SI, Vowles, Z, Plachcinski, R, Nirantharakumar, K, Black, M, Locock, L & Taylor, B 2024, '', Health Expectations, vol. 27, no. 3, e14104.

Daniel, K, Bousfield, J, Hocking, L, Jackson, L & Taylor, B 2024, '', Health and Social Care Delivery Research, vol. 12, no. 30, pp. 1-138.

Lee, S, Hanley, S, VOWLES, Z, Plachcinski, R, Azcoaga-Lorenzo, A, Taylor, B, Nelson-Piercy, C, McCowan, C, O'Reilly, D, Hope, HF, Abel, KM, Eastwood, K-A, Locock, L, Singh, M, Moss, N, Brophy, S, Nirantharakumar, K, Thangaratinam, S & Black, M 2023, '', BMC pregnancy and childbirth, vol. 23, 551.

Macdonald, C, MacGregor, B, Hillman, S, MacArthur, C, Bick, D & Taylor, B 2023, '', BMJ open, vol. 13, no. 4, e070005.

Lee, SI, Hanley, S, Vowles, Z, Plachcinski, R, Moss, N, Singh, M, Gale, C, Fagbamigbe, AF, Azcoaga-Lorenzo, A, Subramanian, A, Taylor, B, Nelson-Piercy, C, Damase-Michel, C, Yau, C, McCowan, C, O’Reilly, D, Santorelli, G, Dolk, H, Hope, H, Phillips, K, Abel, KM, Eastwood, K-A, Kent, L, Locock, L, Loane, M, Mhereeg, M, Brocklehurst, P, McCann, S, Brophy, S, Wambua, S, Hemali Sudasinghe, SPB, Thangaratinam, S, Nirantharakumar, K & Black, M 2023, '', BMC medicine, vol. 21, no. 1, 314.

Cross-Sudworth, F, Taylor, B, Davidson , L, Quinn, L, Wright, J, Vitue, E & Kenyon, S 2023, '', British Journal of Midwifery, vol. 31, no. 10, pp. 548-557.

Olateju , Z, Olufunlayo, T, MacArthur, C, Leung , C & Taylor, B 2022, '', PLOS One, vol. 17, no. 3, e0265092.

MuM-PreDiCT Group 2022, '', BMC pregnancy and childbirth, vol. 22, 120 .

Leung, C, Olufunlayo, T, Olateju, Z, Macarthur, C & Taylor, B 2022, '', BMC Health Services Research, vol. 22, no. 1, 606.

Commissioned report

Daniel, K, Hocking, L, Bousfield, J & Taylor, B 2022, . ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø. </research/brace/projects/womens-health-hubs.aspx>