Qualifications & background
Dr Richard Byng is a General Practitioner and researcher with a particular interest in primary care mental health. His PhD involved the development and evaluation of shared care for long-term mental illness utilising a cluster randomised controlled trial and a realistic evaluation-based process evaluation. Richard also has extensive experience of service development, management, policy development and teachiing.
He is skilled in using a wide range of quantitative and qualitative techniques; specialising in primary care mental health and developing a national profile in offender research and analysis of consultation data. He has a breadth of clinical experience in primary care and community mental health.
Professional membership
PenCLARHC
Primary Care Research Group
Research interests
Current Research:
I have worked as a part-time researcher since 1995 in a range of research settings and am now developing a team in Plymouth. My main area of research is primary care mental health and within that I have developed specific areas of expertise and interest:
- Shared care for long-term mental illness
- Content of consultations for mental illness
- Treatment of depression
- Offender health care
I have also been involved in projects related to access, commissioning, inter-professional workng and implementation of evidence-based practice.
I have worked as a generalist researcher and become experienced with a range of quantiative and qualitative methodologies relevant to health services research, including:
- Randomised controlled trials
- Studies involving qualitative interviews
- Mixed methods analysis
- Conversation analysis
I have developed a particular interest in developing and field testing theoretical models (programme theory). This is of particular relevance for the development and evaluation of both innovative compled interventions and programmes for translating evidence into practice. Building on the IAPT evaluation (see below) I plan to develop the exploitation of the large PCT-based data warehouses to help evaluate the success of their commissioning programmes.
Management of depression and common mental health problems The consultation for depression in primary care Offender health care Organisation and delivery of primary and community-based care
UoP Research group membership
Health
Grants & contracts
Grants as Principal Investigator:
Engaging Offenders with Common Mental Health Problems. NIHR Programme Development Grant. 2010-11 (£100K). This project is testing the feasibility of engaging offenders in prison, collecting outcomes and following them up in the community.
A research evaluation of the south west Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme. NHS southwest. 2009-11 (£300k).
This promises to provide the opportunity to use a large naturalistic regional data base incorporating validated baseline, process and outcome data to examine the predictors of better access and improved mental health.
Care of Offenders: Continuity of Access (COCOA). Service Delivery and Organisation (SDO). 2008-2010 (£400,000).
This study formalises a novel approach to developing and testing ‘programme theory’ using qualitative and quantitative methods. It involves collaborators from North America.
NHS R&D Researcher Development Award, 2001-5. 1) The ‘Realistic Evaluation of Mental Health Link’ made up the second part of my PhD. 2) ‘Impact of consultations for depression’ examined real time consultation data to show an association between expression of emotions, GP activity and better outcomes. This unusual data base continues to be exploited in two research degrees which I am supervising.
Evaluation of the Lewisham Depression Programme. Lewisham Research Unit. 2004-5. (£35,000).
This research used another theory based evaluation, Theories of Change, to help understand the mechanisms underpinning translation of evidence into practice.
An evaluation of the introduction of evidence-based interventions to the field of mental health in primary care. NHS North Thames R&D Directorate.1998-2001: (£48,158). This study examined care provided as practitioners aimed to integrate evidence into every day consultations.
A Randomised Controlled trial of shared care (Mental Health Link) between GPs and secondary services for care of the Long Term Mentally Ill. 1998-2001. NHS Primary-secondary interface R&D programme. (£184,650).
A Randomised Controlled trial of shared care between GPs and secondary services for care of the Long Term Mentally Ill. NHS Primary-secondary interface R&D programme. Pilot Year 1997-98 (£71,762).
This study involved the development of a complex intervention for shared care of long-term mental illness and its evaluation involving a cluster RCT.
Publications
Papers:
Dowrick C, Byng R. Estimating probability of sustained recovery from mild to moderate depression in primary care: evidence from the THREAD study: C Dowrick et al (PM09/8004), 2010.
Howerton A, Burnett R, Byng R, Campbell J. The consolations of going back to prison: what 'revolving door' prisoners think of their prospects. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 2009; 48(5): 439-61.
Kendrick T, Chatwin C, Dowrick C, Tylee A, Morriss R, Peveler R, Leese M, McCrone P, Harris T, Moore M, Byng R et al. Randomised controlled trial to determine the clinical and cost-effectiveness of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors plus supportive care, versus supportive care alone, for mild to moderate depression with somatic symptoms in primary care. The THREAD Study. HTA 2009; 13(22).
Kuyken W, Byford S, Byng R, Dalgleish T, Lewis G, Taylor R, Watkins ER, Hayes R, Lanham P, Kessler D, Morant N, Evans A. Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial comparing mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with maintenance anti-depressant treatment in the prevention of depressive relapse/recurrence: the PREVENT trial. Trials 2010;11:99.
Farrand P, Confue P, Byng R, Shaw S. Guided self-help .
supported by paraprofessional mental health workers: an uncontrolled before-after cohort study. Health Soc Care Community 2009;17(1):9-17. Epub 2008 Jun 17
Byng R, Norman I, Redfern S, Jones R. Exposing the key functions of a complex intervention for shared care in mental health: case study of a process evaluation. BMC Health Serv Res 2008;8:274.
Kuyken W, Byford S, Taylor RS, Watkins E, Holden E, White K, Barrett B, Byng R et al. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to prevent relapse in recurrent depression. J Consult Clin Psychol 2008;76(6):966-78
Riley AJ, Byng R, White C, Smith S. Utilising theories of change to understand the engagement of general practitioners in service improvement: a formative evaluation of the Lewisham Depression Programme. Qual Prim Care 2008;16(1):17-26.
Howerton A, Byng R, Campbell J, Hess D, Owens C, Aitken P. Understanding help seeking behaviour among offenders: essons from a qualitative interview study. Br Med J 2007;334(7588):303-6.
Byng R, Bury C, Weaver L. 2007 Patients’ experiences of consultations for depression and predictors of adherence to antidepressants. Primary Care & Community Psychiatry 2007;12(3):109.
Lawrence V, Murray J, Banerjee S, Turner S, Sangha K, Byng R et al. Concepts and causation of depression: A cross-cultural study of the beliefs of older adults. Gerontologist 2006;46(1):23-32.
Murray J, Banerjee S, Byng R, Tylee A, Bhugra D, Macdonald A, Primary care professionals' perceptions of depression in older people: a qualitative study. Soc Sci Med 2006;63(5):1363-73.
Byng R, Norman I, Redfern S. Using realistic evaluation to evaluate a practice-level intervention to improve primary health care for patients with long-term mental illness. Evaluation 2005;11(1):69-93.
Byng R, Jones R, Leese M, Hamilton B, McCrone P, Craig T. Exploratory cluster randomised controlled trial of shared care development for long-term mental illness. Br J Gen Pract 2004;54(501):259-66.
Byng R, Weaver L, Bury C. GPs’ beliefs about their management of depression and needs for supporting change in practice. Primary Care Psychiatry 2003; 8(4):121-25.
Byng R. Primary mental health care in Nicaragua. Social Science and Medicine 1993;36:625-9.
Book/Chapters
Currently co-authoring, with Prof Patricia Casey, Primary Care Psychiatry (3rd ed), commissioned by Cambridge University Press and due for publication in 2011.
Byng R, Boardman A. Mental health in primary care. In ABC of Mental Health 2nd edition, Ed. Teifion Davies. London: BMJ Publishing Group, 2009.
Byng R. Filling the gap; creating models of care for people with long-term, complex, non-psychotic mental health problems. In Navigating the World of Mental Health in Primary Care Work; mapping the areas around severe and enduring mental illness. Ed. April Russello. Cambridge: Radcliffe, 2007.
Byng R, Single H. Developing Primary Care for Patients with Long-term Mental Illness, Your guide to improving services. Kings Fund, UK, 1999.
Byng R, Pitts-Brown S. Allies or adversaries, in A. Reynolds and G. Thornicroft (Eds) Managing Mental Health Services. Open University Press. UK, 1999
Educational and general articles
Byng R. Using antidepressants in primary care: keep talking. Health Care Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal 2005;5:14-15.
Byng R. Five ages of mental health: mental illness in adults. Update Oct 2004;160-4.
Byng R. Physical care for patients with mental illness. Practitioner 2004;248(1659):440-5.
Byng R. Link workers and liaison with primary care: lessons from case studies. Mental Health Review 2004:9(4):13-18.
Byng R, Smith K. 'Time heals: using time as a currency. Br J Gen Pract 2001 (Back Pages).
National policy (lead writer/editor)
Department of Health. New way of working for primary care mental health: a briefing document. DoH National Workforce Programme/SWDC, 2009. http://www.newwaysofworking.org.uk/component/option.com_docman/task,cat_view/gid,213/Itemid,412/
Department of Health. New ways of working for primary care in mental health. In New Ways of Working for Everyone. DoH National Workforce Programme/CSIP, 2007.
RCGP Inequalities Standing Group. Position Statement: Mental Health and Primary Care. RCGP, 2005.
