Jane Lethbridge

Jane Lethbridge's main research interests include:

Global commercialisation of health and social care
Social dialogue in the health and social care sectors in Europe
Impact of public sector reforms on public sector workers
Trade union responses to liberalisation and privatisation
Professionals improving public services

Jane Lethbridge was appointed as senior research fellow in the Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) in August 2001. Since 2001, Jane Lethbridge has specialised in the analysis of global commercialisation of health and social care and its impact on health and social care workers. She also researches social dialogue in the health and social care sectors in Europe as well as trade union responses to liberalisation and privatisation globally.

She has worked on public health issues in the UK and internationally for over 20 years, with experience of management and project implementation in both the public and NGO sectors. She was senior policy adviser for the Health Education Authority from 1994-97. Since 1994, she has specialised in policy development and strategic management.

As a health policy consultant after 1999, Jane Lethbridge was commissioned to look at how practitioners were implementing National Service Frameworks in the NHS for the Department of Health.

From 2001-07, Jane Lethbridge was senior research fellow, Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU)at the University of Greenwich before becoming principal lecturer in 2007. In 2003-04, she was part of a team led by Professor Maureen Macintosh (Open University) examining the commercialisation of healthcare globally for the UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).

In 2005-06, she was research consultant to a joint ILO - Public Services International (PSI) project that examined the impact of public sector reforms on public sector workers. She is commissioned regularly by Public Services International, European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) to examine aspects of the commercialisation and privatisation of health and social care services across the world. In 2011-12, she was European research coordinator for the PESSIS; 'Promoting Employers’ Social Services in Social Dialogue' which provided, for the first time, a detailed understanding of social dialogue in the social services sector in eleven European countries.

She is currently part of a team with Professor Ian Greer from the University of Greenwich undertaking a comparative analytical report on industrial relations in Central Public Administration sector for the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EuroFound – Contract NO:12-3030-20).

She is currently developing research into the impact of public sector reforms on the professional development of teachers, nurses and social workers in England. In 2013, she was appointed Director of the Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU).