Medicine without Doctors is a six-year research project funded by Wellcome Trust (Discovery Award). Our research project aims to strengthen the healthcare system by looking at how we can make it more inclusive and accessible for all.

We focus on four case studies – Abortion care, LGBTQ+ healthcare, Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, and the changing roles of Physicians Associates in healthcare. We examine these areas, asking what type of care do people need and whose knowledge will be valued in the future.

Our overarching goal is to work together with marginalised communities and medical professionals to reimagine a future where healthcare is accessible and works for everyone.

With the current political, social, technological and cultural changes, the role of the doctor and the way we access healthcare is shifting. At this time of turbulent change, this project is exploring the future of healthcare. We are asking three key questions: what does care mean, whose voices are heard and whose knowledge will be valued?

Our project aims to develop an inclusive healthcare system by amplifying community voices that are often overlooked. We welcome those communities who want to explore with us in re-imagining what inclusive healthcare system could and should be. We want to see a future where healthcare truly cares for all.

We chose “Medicine without Doctors” as a provocative title, to spark curiosity and invite conversation around this topic. We are not proposing to remove doctors from healthcare, far from it. In fact, we want to work together with healthcare professionals and community groups to develop future approaches to healthcare.

With current social, political, financial and ethical pressures on healthcare systems, our project looks at what happens when healthcare is decentralised from doctors.

Through playful methods we want to bring medical professionals and marginalised groups together to explore how future healthcare can work best for all. By providing collaborative spaces and creative ways to explore together, we hope to generate new ideas which can contribute to making our future healthcare accessible for all.

We want to look at what is in place today and ask those using the healthcare system how it can best serve them. We want to strengthen the healthcare system so it works best for those who need it. We want to give marginalised communities a voice to share what they need from healthcare. We don’t advocate to replace the system but challenge the status quo around health to improve future equality and inclusivity in healthcare. We want to support those developing regulation and policy around healthcare to include the views and suggestions of those community groups who often get overlooked.  

We are being experimental with our engagement approach through playful methods. We will be developing a 'play toolkit' that we want to share widely so that it can be used by others to develop new approaches to knowledge generation of future healthcare that works for everyone.