Hi, I’m Dr Christopher Sirrs, a historian based at the University of Warwick, UK . My research interests as an historian are diverse, encompassing the history of medicine, public health, risk, and safety.
My current research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, explores the history of 'safety' in the British National Health Service. As Covid-19 has dramatically brought to the fore, the safety of patients and the health and safety of hospital staff are interlinked. 'Hazardous Hospitals: Cultures of Safety in NHS General Hospitals, c.1960-Present' explores the development of ideas, norms, values and practices around safety in NHS hospitals. These include policies around patient and staff consultation, to reporting and learning systems, clinical audit, whistleblowing procedures, risk assessment, and campaigns around various hazards.
Previously, I have investigated the emergence of anxieties around 'fake' drugs in global health, and the intellectual and policy history of 'health systems' thinking. My research has involved examining the role of international agencies such as the World Health Organisation, International Labour Organisation and World Bank, as well as national regulatory agencies such as the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE). My PhD, completed in 2016, explored the historical development of the British system of health and safety regulation: a theme I am now continuing to explore, in the domain of hospitals.
CV
- 2019–present – Research Fellow, University of Warwick
- 2018–2019 – Research Fellow, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- 2015–2018 — Research Assistant, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- 2011–2016 — Ph.D. Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- 2009–2010 — M.A. History of Medicine, University College London
- 2004–2007 – B.Sc. (Hons) Anthropology, University College London
Publications
Christopher Sirrs, ‘Fluid Fakes, Contested Counterfeits: The World Health Organisation’s Engagement with Fake Drugs, 1948–2017’, Medicine Anthropology Theory, forthcoming September 2023.
Martin Gorsky and Christopher Sirrs, ‘The World Bank’s Advocacy of User Fees in Global Health, c.1970–1997: More Ideology than Evidence?’, in Iris Borowy and Bernard Harris, eds, Health and Development. Yearbook for the History of Development, vol. 2 (Berlin: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2023), https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111015583.
Christopher Sirrs, ‘Taking Action Against Medical Accidents: A Brief History of AvMA and Clinical Risk Management in the NHS’, Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1177/25160435221135120.
Martin Gorsky and Christopher Sirrs, ‘“Universal Health Coverage” as a Global Public Health Goal: The Work of the International Labour Organisation, c.1925–2018’, História, Ciências, Saúde—Manguinhos, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-59702020000300005.
Christopher Sirrs, ‘Promoting Health Protection Worldwide: The International Labour Organisation and Health Systems Financing, 1952–2012’, The International History Review, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2019.1582550.
Martin Gorsky and Christopher Sirrs, ‘From “Planning” to “Systems Analysis”: Health Services Strengthening at the World Health Organization, 1952-1975’, Dynamis, 2019, http://doi.org/10.30827/dynamis.v39i1.8672.
Christopher Sirrs, ‘The Health of Nations: International Health Accounting in Historical Perspective, 1925–2011’, in Axel Hüntelmann and Oliver Falk, eds, Accounting for Health: Economic Practices and Medical Knowledge, 1500–2000 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2021), https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526135179.00023.
Martin Gorsky and Christopher Sirrs, ‘The Rise and Fall of “Universal Health Coverage” as a Goal of International Health Politics, 1925–1952’, American Journal of Public Health, 2018, https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.304215.
Martin Gorsky and Christopher Sirrs, ‘World Health by Place: The Politics of International Health System Metrics, 1924–c.2010’, Journal of Global History, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1740022817000134.
Christopher Sirrs, ‘Risk, Responsibility and Robens: The Transformation of the British System of Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, 1961–1974’, in Tom Crook and Mike Esbester, eds, Governing Risks in Modern Britain: Danger, Safety and Accidents, c. 1800–2000 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46745-4_11.
Christopher Sirrs, ‘Accidents and Apathy: The Construction of the “Robens Philosophy” of Occupational Safety and Health Regulation in Britain, 1961–1974’, Social History of Medicine, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkv068.
Contact
email[at]chrissirrs.com