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School of Medicine

Professor Matt Sutton BA MSc PhD

Photograph of Matt Sutton

Professor of Health Economics

Health Methodology Research Group
School of Community Based Medicine
University of Manchester
Room 1.304 University Place
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL 

 

Role

Matt leads the Health Economics team within the Health Methodology Research Group and the Workforce Team within the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre. He is also Visiting Professor in Health Economics at the University of Bergen and at Aberdeen University's Health Economics Research Unit.

 

Memberships of Committees and Professional Bodies

  • Associate Editor of Health Economics (2007-)
  • Member of the MRC College of Experts (2005-)
  • Member of Advisory Group for the Review of General Medical Services Contract, Audit Scotland (2007-2008)
  • Member of NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (2005-2007)
  • Member of UK General Medical Services Formula Review Group (2004-2006)
  • Member of the UK Health Economists' Study Group

Research

Matt's research addresses the issues of workforce, resource allocation and performance in health care and involves the development and application of microeconometric techniques. 

Recruitment and retention of a high quality workforce is key to the delivery of health services. Matt's research on the NHS workforce has considered how the recruitment and retention of health care professionals depend on local labour market conditions, how new labour contracts affected job satisfaction and productivity, and determinants of overtime working and retirement plans.

Funding formulae are used in many countries to distribute available resources between health care organisations. In the UK these formulae determine the shares of the health care budget that are allocated to local geographical organisations, for example Primary Care Trusts in England. Matt has undertaken research that has underpinned the resource allocation formulae used in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 2002 Matt led the research team that produced the AREA Report and between 2005 and 2007 he was a member of the NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee.

Governments have used both financial and non-financial incentives to improve the performance of health care providers. A notable recent example has been the introduction of the Quality and Outcomes Framework for general practices across the UK. Matt's research has examined the distribution of quality in general practice across population and practice characteristics and the intended and unintended consequences of the introduction of this new payment system. With colleagues at the University of Bristol, Matt has recently completed an analysis of the effect of waiting times targets on hospital performance and he was involved in the National Evaluation of Payment by Results whilst at the University of Aberdeen. His collaboration with Health Economics Bergen includes a comparison of prioritisation by waiting time in Norway and Scotland.

 

Methodological Knowledge

 

Biography

Matt obtained a first class honours degree in Economics with Econometrics from the University of Leeds in 1990 and an MSc in Health Economics from the University of York in 1991. 

Matt joined the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York as a Research Fellow in 1991 and worked on a series of projects for government agencies on the economics of addiction. In 1995 he was a National Drug Strategy Fellow based at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. In 1996 he had a visiting fellowship to the University of Malmo in Sweden.

Matt returned to the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York in 1996 as a Research Fellow in the new National Primary Care Research and Development Centre. In 1999 he left York to take up a secondment at the Scottish Executive as an Economic Adviser where he worked on the 'Arbuthnott' resource allocation formula and inequalities in health.

In 2000 he was appointed Senior Research Fellow in the Department of General Practice & Primary Care at the University of Glasgow where he lead a programme of research using linked survey, population and NHS administrative data. He simultaneously held a part-time appointment in the Information Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland.

He was appointed Professor of Health Economics by the University of Aberdeen in 2004 and was Director of the Behaviour, Performance and Organisation of Care Programme in the Health Economics Research Unit. He joined The University of Manchester as Professor of Health Economics in April 2008.  

 

Qualifications

BA Economics with Econometrics (Leeds), MSc Health Economics (York), PhD Economics (York)

 

Publications

2011

  • Fichera E, Sutton M. (2011). State and self investments in health. Journal of Health Economics, eScholarID:137289 | DOI:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.09.002
  • Kontopantelis E, Doran T, Gravelle H, Goudie R, Siciliani L, Sutton M. (2011). Pay-for-performance and influenza immunization: the impact of raising the bar in the UK Quality and Outcomes Framework. Health Services Research, eScholarID:137287
  • Mentzakis E, McNamee P, Ryan M, Sutton M. (2011). Valuing informal care experience: Does choice of measure matter? Social Indicators Research, eScholarID:137290
  • Morris S., Goudie R., Sutton M., Gravelle H., Elliott R., Hole A.R., Ma A., Sibbald B., Skåtun D. (2011). Determinants of general practitioners’ wages in England. Health Economics, 20(2), 147-160. eScholarID:84204 | DOI:10.1002/hec.1573
  • Tickle M, Milsom KM, Donaldson M, Killough S, O'Neill C, Crealey G, Sutton M, Noble S, Greer M, Worthington HV. (2011). Protocol for Northern Ireland Caries Prevention in Practice Trial (NIC-PIP) trial: a randomised controlled trial to measure the effects and costs of a dental caries prevention regime for young children attending primary care dental services. BMC Oral Health, eScholarID:137288
  • Craig P, Cooper C, Gunnell D, Haw S, Lawson K, Macintyre S, Ogilvie D, Petticrew M, Reeves B, Sutton M, Thompson S. (2011). Using natural experiments to evaluate population health interventions: guidance for producers and users of evidence. Medical Research Council. eScholarID:137293

2010

  • Elliott, R., Ma, A., Sutton, M., Skatun, D., Rice, N., Morris, S. & McConnachie, A (2010). The role of the staff MFF in distributing NHS funding: taking account of differences in local labour market conditions. Health Econ, eScholarID:75531 | PMID:19653330 | DOI:10.1002/hec.1489
  • Gravelle H, Sutton M, Ma A. (2010). Doctor behaviour under a pay for performance contract: treating, cheating and case finding? The Economic Journal, 120, 129-156. eScholarID:84195 | DOI:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2009.02340.x
  • Propper C, Sutton M, Whitnall CA, Windmeijer F. (2010). Incentives and Targets in Hospital Care: Evidence from a Natural Experiment. Journal of Public Economics, 94, 318-335. eScholarID:84199 | DOI:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.01.002
  • Reeves D, Doran T, Valderas JM, Kontopantelis E, Trueman P, Sutton M, Campbell S, Lester H. (2010). How to identify when a performance indicator has run its course. British Medical Journal, 340(1717), eScholarID:84201
  • Sutton MA, Elder R, Guthrie B, Watt G. (2010). Record rewards: the effects of targeted quality incentives on the recording of risk factors by primary care providers. Health Econ, 19(1), 1-13. eScholarID:1d32386 | DOI:10.1002/hec.1440
  • Whittaker W, Sutton M, Maxwell M, Munoz-Arroyo R, MacDonald S, Power A, Smith M, Wilson P, Morrison J. (2010). Predicting which people with psychosocial distress are at risk of becoming dependent on state benefits: analysis of routinely available data. British Medical Journal, 341, c3838. eScholarID:111231 | DOI:10.1136/bmj.c3838

2009

  • Farrar S, Yi D, Sutton M, Chalkley M, Sussex J, Scott A. (2009). Has Payment by Results affected the way that English hospitals provide care? A difference-in-differences analysis. British Medical Journal, 339, b3047. eScholarID:75517 | DOI:10.1136/bmj.b3047
  • Geue C, Skåtun D, Sutton MA. (2009). Economic influences on GPs' decisions to provide out-of-hours care. Br J Gen Pract, 59( 558), e1-7. eScholarID:1d32220 | DOI:10.3399/bjgp09X394806
  • Gravelle H, Sutton MA. (2009). Income, relative income, and self-reported health in Britain 1979-2000. Health Econ, 18, 125-145. eScholarID:1d31846 | DOI:10.1002/hec.1354
  • Macdonald, S., Morrison, J., Maxwell, M., Munoz-Arroyo, R., Power, A., Smith, M., Sutton, M. & Wilson, P (2009). 'A coal face option': GPs' perspectives on the rise in antidepressant prescribing. Br J Gen Pract, 59(566), e299-307. eScholarID:75529 | PMID:19761658 | DOI:10.3399/bjgp09X454106
  • Morrison, J., Anderson, M., Sutton, M., Munoz-Arroyo, R., McDonald, S., Maxwell, M., Power, A., Smith, M. & Wilson, P (2009). Factors influencing variation in prescribing of antidepressants by general practices in Scotland. Br J Gen Pract, 59(559), e25-31. eScholarID:75533 | PMID:19192364 | DOI:10.3399/bjgp09X395076
  • Vallejo-Torres, L., Morris, S., Carr-Hill, R., Dixon, P., Law, M., Rice, N. & Sutton, M (2009). Can regional resource shares be based only on prevalence data? An empirical investigation of the proportionality assumption. Soc Sci Med, 69(11), 1634-42. eScholarID:75528 | PMID:19819058 | DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.09.020

2008

  • Gravelle H, Morris S, Sutton MA. (2008). Are Family Physicians Good for You? Endogenous Doctor Supply and Individual Health. Health Serv Res, eScholarID:1d32066 | DOI:10.1111/j.1475-6773.2007.00823.x
  • McLean G, Sutton MA. (2008). What impact did the creation of Local Health Care Co-operatives have on indicators of practice resources and activity? BMC Health Serv Res, 8, eScholarID:1d32590
  • Morris S, Elliott B, Ma A, McConnachie A, Rice N, Skatun D, Sutton MA. (2008). Analysis of consultants' NHS and private incomes in England in 2003/4. J R Soc Med, 101( 7), 372-80. eScholarID:1d32457
  • Morrison J, Anderson MJ, Donald SM, Maxwell M, Munoz-Arroyo R, Power A, Smith M, Sutton MA, Wilson P. (2008). Relationship between antidepressant and anxiolytic/hypnotic prescribing: A mixed-methods study. Eur J Gen Pract, 1-7. eScholarID:1d32140 | DOI:10.1080/13814780802632683
  • Propper C, Sutton MA, Whitnall C, Windmeijer F. (2008). Did 'targets and terror' reduce waiting times in England? B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 8(2), eScholarID:1d32893
  • Teckle P, Sutton MA. (2008). How do the determinants of demand for GP visits respond to higher supply? An analysis of grouped counts. Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, 144(3), 495-513. eScholarID:1d33106

2007

  • Hanlon P, Lawder R, Elders A, Clark D, Walsh D, Whyte B, Sutton MA. (2007). An analysis of the link between behavioural, biological and social risk factors and subsequent hospital admission in Scotland. J Public Health (Oxf), 29( 4), 405-12. eScholarID:1d32155
  • McLean G, Guthrie B, Sutton MA. (2007). Differences in the quality of primary medical care for CVD and diabetes across the NHS: evidence from the quality and outcomes framework. BMC Health Serv Res, 7, eScholarID:1d32156
  • McLean G, Guthrie B, Sutton MA. (2007). Differences in the quality of primary medical care services by remoteness from urban settlements. Qual Saf Health Care, 16( 6), 446-9. eScholarID:1d32067

2006

  • Guthrie B, McLean G, Sutton MA. (2006). Workload and reward in the Quality and Outcomes Framework of the 2004 general practice contract. Br J Gen Pract, 56( 532), 836-41. eScholarID:1d31948
  • Macdonald AS, Straughn J, Sutton M. (2006). Healthy life expectancy measurement in Scotland. British Actuarial Journal, 12(11), 67. eScholarID:61894
  • McLean G, Sutton MA, Guthrie B. (2006). Deprivation and quality of primary care services: evidence for persistence of the inverse care law from the UK Quality and Outcomes Framework. J Epidemiol Community Health, 60( 11), 917-22. eScholarID:1d31847
  • Munoz-Arroyo R, Sutton MA, Morrison J. (2006). Exploring potential explanations for the increase in antidepressant prescribing in Scotland using secondary analyses of routine data. Br J Gen Pract, 56( 527), 423-8. eScholarID:1d31949
  • Sutton MA, McLean G. (2006). Determinants of primary medical care quality measured under the new UK contract: cross sectional study. BMJ, 332( 7538), 389-90. eScholarID:1d32350
  • Wood R, Sutton MA, Clark D, McKeon A, Bain M. (2006). Measuring inequalities in health: the case for healthy life expectancy. J Epidemiol Community Health, 60( 12), 1089-92. eScholarID:1d32458

2005

  • Mackay D, Sutton MA, Watt G. (2005). Deprivation and volunteering by general practices: cross sectional analysis of a national primary care system. BMJ, 331( 7530), 1449-51. eScholarID:1d32049
  • Morris S, Sutton MA, Gravelle H. (2005). Inequity and inequality in the use of health care in England: an empirical investigation. Soc Sci Med, 60( 6), 1251-66. eScholarID:1d32130

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