Dr Deborah Harding
Associate Professor, School Director Workforce Development
Contact
- Email: d.harding@sgul.kingston.ac.uk
- Location: St George's
- Faculty: Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education
- School: School of Allied Health, Midwifery and Social Care
About
My comprehensive experience in health and social care practice, management and leadership across a range of settings underpins my teaching, learning and research.
A speech and language therapist by profession, I remain both HCPC registered and an RCSLT member. Clinically, I specialised in disorders of language and non-language cognition. I have an MSc in Cognitive Neuropsychology.
I have multi-professional management and leadership experience as an in-patient services manager, service development manager and associate director in physical and mental health. I have held not-for-profit sector board positions. Through my leadership roles I became interested in developing people and in quality improvement, including the use of action learning, the application of personal construct psychology and supervision practices. My PhD research explored supervision for the allied health professions.
I moved to higher education in 2008. I have developed and led multi-professional post-registration education with a focus on policy, service improvement, quality and innovation. I currently hold a part-time role as an associate professor and director for workforce development. From 2017 to 2019, I also held a part-time role as consultant and professional lead for speech and language therapy at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
In 2015, my curriculum development work in quality improvement received a Health Innovation Network/ Health Education South London Innovation Grant. I am currently leading curriculum development for a multi-professional MSc Advanced Clinical Practice.
I have delivered commissioned service evaluations including work for Macmillan Cancer Support and for NHS Improvement, including work with the Chief Allied Health Professions' Officer's team on the development of AHP leadership across the NHS in England. I have contributed to revision of supervision guidance for the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and am leading work with Health Education England to develop supervision guidance for advanced level practitioners in training and practice.
Areas of specialism
- Supervision in health and social care
- Quality improvement in health and social care
- Leadership in health and social care
- Service Evaluation
- Action Learning
Qualifications
- BMedSci (Speech)
- MSc Cognitive Neuropsychology
- PGCert Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
- PhD
Industry links
Work commissioned by NHS Improvement can be found here:
https://improvement.nhs.uk/documents/2937/Final_AHP_Leadership_Report_March_2018_updated_typology_Interactive.pdf
https://improvement.nhs.uk/documents/5536/Investing_in_chief_AHP_leadership.pdf
https://improvement.nhs.uk/documents/6054/NHSI_DEVELOPING_AHP_LEADERS_FINAL_081019.pdf
Professional membership
Registered member Health and Care Professions Council
Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Research
My research focus is supervision practices for health professions and leadership, with a particular focus on allied health professions.
Publications
Number of items: 7.
Book Section
Carroll, Clare and Harding, Deborah (2019) Grounded theory and its use in communication disorders research. In: Lyons, Rena and McAllister, Lindy, (eds.) Qualitative research in communication disorders : an introduction for students and clinicians. Guildford, U.K. : J&R Press. pp. 119-140. ISBN 9781907826382
Roulstone, Sue, Atherton, Marie, Davidson, Bronwyn, Harding, Deborah, Kelic, Maja and McAllister, Lindy (2019) Using qualitative research to explore professional practice. In: Lyons, Rena and McAllister, Lindy, (eds.) Qualitative research in communication disorders : an introduction for students and clinicians. Guildford, U.K. : J&R Press. pp. 435-460. ISSN (print) 9781907826382
Harding, Deborah (2017) Looking at research methodology through personal construct psychology lenses : reflections from a PhD student choosing grounded theory. In: Winter, David , Cummins, Peter , Proctor, Harry and Reed, Nick, (eds.) Personal construct psychology at 60. Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K. : Cambridge Scholars. pp. 32-45. ISBN 9781443882798
Monograph
Palma, Stuart, Harding, Deborah and Treadwell, Liz (2019) Developing allied health professional leaders : a guide for trust boards and clinicians. (Other) NHS England. (no. IT 13/19)
Palma, Stuart, Harding, Deborah and Treadwell, Liz (2019) Investing in chief allied health professionals : insights from trust executives : a guide to reviewing AHP leadership for trust boards and clinicians. (Project Report) NHS Improvement. (no. SL 21/19)
Harding, Deborah and Treadwell, Elizabeth (2018) Allied health professions' leadership in NHS trusts in England : understanding what exists and what matters : report to Dr Joanne Fillingham. (Project Report) NHS Improvement.
Thesis
Harding, Deborah (2019) Practitioner permeability and the resolution of practice uncertainties : a grounded theoretical perspective of supervision for allied health professionals. (PhD thesis), St George's, University of London, .