Dr Katie Spencer

Profile

Katie is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist and University Clinical Academic Fellow. Her MRC funded PhD investigated the cost-effectiveness of the palliative radiotherapy treatments delivered within the English NHS radiotherapy. Katie now sits in the Academic Unit of Health Economics where her work continues to focus on assessing the cost-effectiveness both of the cancer treatments we currently deliver and of novel interventions. Much of Katie’s work uses routinely collected NHS data to help assess how the care we deliver currently varies across the NHS and aims to support improvements in the equity of care, its cost-effectiveness and outcomes by using these data.

Katie is NHS Digital’s National Clinical Lead for Radiotherapy Data. In this role she uses her clinical experience and academic knowledge, collaborating with colleagues across NHS Digital and the wider NHS, to provide information to clinicians and providers that can inform and improve the delivery of radiotherapy across the NHS.

Research interests

Katie is interested in the value of treatments delivered within the NHS for cancer. Her current research focusses upon palliative radiotherapy treatments, how the use of these treatments varies across the English NHS and the value they offer very close to the end of life. Elements of this work include; assessing the costs of radiotherapy in the NHS in collaboration with the Royal College of Radiologists and ESTRO-HERO project, determining the quality of life benefits provided by palliative radiotherapy for bone metastases in the context of differing survival time, how patients experience these quality of life improvements and considering the cost-effectiveness of newer radiotherapy techniques available to deliver these treatments within the NHS.

Qualifications

• MB BChir
• MA (Cantab)
• MRCP
• FRCR
• PhD

Professional memberships

• FRCR

Student education

Katie is a PhD supervisor to Janet Tonge and MRes supervisor to Sairah Naseer. She works with and mentors junior clinical academics and is always happy to be contacted to dsicuss research opportunities.

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Medical Research at St James's
• Academic Unit of Health Economics
• Health economics
• Cancer Epidemiology Group
• Decision Modelling Group
• Leeds Institute of Health Sciences