12 July 2021

We’re pleased to welcome Professor Simon Conroy, who has joined CNWL in Camden, at the St Pancras Rehabilitation Unit (SPRU) from the University of Leicester.

A consultant Geriatrician since 2008, he has an additional PhD in Preventing Falls in Older People. He’s contributed to national frailty work and hopes to do so across the North Central London health system and CNWL, building a centre of excellence.

Simon is proud to be a geriatrician, but when talking about his patients he prefers ‘Older people Living with Frailty’. He researches the area of providing Acute and Emergency care of older people at the interface between primary and secondary care.

This recognises the importance of preventing institutionalisation through long hospital stays, with more services in the community, ‘the hospital at home’, to build on local ties and a person’s existing social life.

Covid has thrown a spotlight onto this area of work, testing what he calls the “whole axis of care” (from ICU to SPRU’s rehab, and community services) and Simon’s work is about getting people home, back their life not only repairing their ‘health’.

Now also an honorary professor at UCLH, his Leicester University page speaks of his, “ambition is to improve outcomes for frail older people by embedding evidence-based medicine into clinical practice (‘campus to clinic’ translational research). His research addresses different models of care for frail older people, assessing feasibility as well as clinical and cost-effectiveness. ...  Implementation of research findings into clinical practice is key, and best exemplified by work on the Silver Book and the Acute Frailty Network.” See https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/health-sciences/research/mapp/staff/conroy

Half of his time at SPRU will be spent on research, education and training and he stresses that academic work is the “scholarly pursuit of knowledge and excellence” and the rest  of his time on his case load, currently about 20 patients on Rochester West Ward.

He is married to Marie-Hélène, a teacher from France and has two daughters (25 and 22) and a son who is 14. He lives in Market Harborough and likes spending time in France.

He also plays for Stewarts & Lloyds Rugby Club, in Corby, technically (due to Covid) the reigning East Midlands Champions.

Dr Paul Hopper, Medical Director for the area said, “we’re delighted to have such an accomplished academic physician join our Camden services. Simon’s whole focus is on finding out what really works to make the lives of older people better – learning through doing. Simon has arrived at just the right time as we accelerate CNWL’s integration journey.”