Dr Ford’s main interest is health inequalities and in particular what the NHS can do about them. His current research projects focus on health interventions which increase or decrease inequalities, primarily in primary care or commissioning.

Dr Ford’s NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship looked at how disadvantaged older people from rural areas access primary care. The first two years were spent generating theory based on a realist review, cohort analysis of ELSA using structural equation modelling and semi-structured interviews/focus groups. In the second two years, he completed a feasibility study to improve access to primary care for older people with four general practices in Norfolk. The main publications can be found on the publications section below.

Other research projects include: an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease, which has been published in the Lancet, and a feasibility trial of goal setting in primary care for patients with multi-morbidity.

Dr Ford is currently a Senior Associate Editor with the journal Public Health.