James Fotheringham

Biography

Having completed my undergraduate degree in Medicine at the University of Sheffield I worked as a junior Doctor in the hospitals of South Yorkshire before starting my specialist training in nephrology predominantly at the Sheffield Kidney Institute. During my training I undertook a PhD funded by Kidney Research UK under the supervision of Professor Mike Campbell and Professor Meguid El Nahas.

Using data from and collaborating with the UK Renal Registry we were able, for the first time, to link registry data to Hospital Episode Statistics data to undertake a range of analyses. This exercise is used as a case study by the Health and Social Care Information Centre illustrating the benefits of data linkage.

I have received national junior investigator awards from the British Transplant Society and the Renal Association for analyses arising from this project. In 2015 I received an NIHR Clinician Scientist Award to fund my continued research into the excess admissions and deaths associated with the two-day break in patients receiving three times a week haemodialysis. This award allows me to continue clinical practice as a consultant nephrologist at the Sheffield Kidney Institute.

I was part of the group who undertook the statistical appraisal of Summary Hospital Mortality Indicator for the Department of Health/NHS Information Centre. I have subsequently applied these methods to the evaluation of the presence of renal services in admitting hospitals and seasonal mortality in admissions within Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, and spoken to various groups about standardised mortality ratios.

I am involved in a number of other renal studies including the UK-Catheter study (an ancillary study to the Peritoneal Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study) and the SHARE-HD evaluation. I coordinate the patient and public involvement group for the Sheffield Kidney Institute and the nephrology teaching for core medial trainees in South Yorkshire.