Dr Andy Ward

Andy Ward is an Associate Professor of Medical Education at Leicester Medical School and a practising GP at Inclusion Healthcare in Leicester. He has over 20 years’ experience in medical education, with particular interests in clinical communication, empathy, patient-centred care and inclusion health.

Andy leads the Compassionate Holistic Diagnostic Detective (CHDD) course, a longitudinal part of the medical curriculum that brings together communication skills, clinical examination, patient-centred care and clinical reasoning. His work focuses on developing practical and evidence-informed approaches to healthcare education, several of which have been adopted by other medical schools in the UK and internationally.

His clinical work with people experiencing homelessness and other forms of social exclusion has increasingly shaped his educational work. He is developing inclusion-health teaching within the medical curriculum, including opportunities for students to learn directly with people with lived experience.

Andy is Vice-Chair of the UK Council for Clinical Communication and is active nationally and internationally in healthcare communication education. He also founded and co-leads the University’s Empathy in Education Community of Practice. His current interests include how new technologies, including AI, can support healthcare education without losing the human relationships at the heart of good healthcare.

Andy’s scholarship focuses on clinical communication, empathy, patient-centred care and inclusion-health education. Much of this work has developed directly from his educational practice, including research on empathy mapping, digital communication, triadic consultations, empathy-focused communication training and the teaching and assessment of clinical communication.

His work is strongly collaborative and includes partnerships with colleagues at other UK and international medical schools. Several of the educational approaches developed through these collaborations have been adopted beyond Leicester.

His current work includes the development and evaluation of inclusion-health education and exploring how new technologies, including AI, can support healthcare education while maintaining the human connection that is central to good care.

Please see the publications list for further details.

Pankhania M, Judd O, Ward A. Otorrhoea. BMJ 2011; 342: d2299 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d2299

Hayward E, Ward A. Virtual learning communities for faculty members: does WhatsApp work? Medical Education 52(5):569 01 May 2018 https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.13559

Ward A, Bethea J, Hsu R. Exploring life with a long-term condition using asynchronous online communication. Patient Education and Counseling Volume 102, Issue 12, December 2019, Pages 2325-2329 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2019.08.017

Ward A, Asif A, Cattermole R, Chima J, Ebbatson T, Mahi I, Richardson N, Sheikh H. Social prescribing by students: the design and delivery of a social prescribing scheme by medical students in general practice. Education for Primary Care, 31:5, 318-322. http://doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2020.1799437

Cairns P, Pinker I, Ward A, Watson E, Laidlaw A. Empathy maps in communication skills training. Clinical Teacher. 2021;18:142–146. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.13270

Alzeera M, Ward, A. Involving medical students in the planning and delivery of a vaccination and health screening outreach clinic. Education for Primary Care, 33:2, 113-119, 2022. http://doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2021.1983732

Ward, A. Morrison, C. A collaboration on teaching communication by text. Clin Teach. 2022; 1– 5. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.13498

Ward A, Critoph D, Westacott R, Williams R, Dogra N. A collaboration on teaching and assessing triadic consultation skills. PEC Innovation 2022;1:100091. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecinn.2022.100091

Winter, R., Ward, A., Norman, R.I. et al. A survey of clinical empathy training at UK medical schools. BMC Med Educ23, 40 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03993-5

Ward, A. Howick, J. Teaching an empathy-focused approach to difficult consultations: a pilot session and co-production evaluation workshop. Education for Primary Care (10.08.2023) https://doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2023.2241037

Ward A, Andrews L, Black A, Williamson AE. Communicating Effectively with Inclusion Health Populations: 2022 ICCH Symposium. Patient Education and Counseling. 2023 Sep 9:107977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2023.107977

Slavin, D., Winter, R., Ward A., Howick, J. On the need for empathy in the acute hospital setting. British Journal of Hospital Medicine. 2023 Sep 29. https://doi.org/10.12968/hmed.2023.0210

Keshtkar, L., Madigan, C.D., Ward, A., Ahmed, S., Tanna, V., Rahman, I., Bostock, J., Nockels, K., Wang, W., Gillies, C.L. and Howick, J., 2024. The Effect of Practitioner Empathy on Patient Satisfaction: A Systematic Review of Randomized Trials. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2024 Jan 30 https://doi.org/10.7326/M23-2168

Howick J, Ward A, Papanikitas A. Just do it! Ten easy ways to enhance empathy in the consultation. British Journal of General Practice. 2024 Mar 1;74(740):124-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp24X736593 

Keshtkar, L. Ward, A. Winter, R., Leung, C., Howick, J. Does empathy decline in the clinical phase of medical education? A study of students at Leicester medical school. PEC Innovation, Vol 5, 2024, 100316 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecinn.2024.100316

Howick J, Mercer S, Adams J, Levett-Jones T, Mobley W, Ward A, Winter R, Halpern J. The Leicester Empathy Declaration: A model for implementing empathy in healthcare. Patient Education and Counseling. 2024 Aug 10:108391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2024.108391

Fletcher R, Hammant A, Symes R, Turvey A, Ward A, Mahdzir A, Kumaravel B. The effectiveness of integrating making every contact count into an undergraduate medical curriculum. PEC Innovation. 2024 Nov 15:100356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecinn.2024.100356

Sprake, C., Schmitgen, C., Brown, J., Lefroy, J., Graham, S., Shepherd, S., Smith, L., Ward, A., Ward, J.D. and Weetman, K., 2024. What if the patient reads this? A student guide to writing in the GP electronic patient record. Education for primary care, pp.1-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2024.2435613

Bennett‐Weston A, Harrell C, Ward A, Jones M, Howick J. Co‐Producing an Empathy‐Focused Medical Curriculum With Patients, Educators, and Students. The Clinical Teacher. 2025 Jun;22(3):e70100. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.70100

Howick J, Slavin D, Bennett-Weston A, Eyres C, Ward A, Keshtkar L, Parkinson S, Williams C, Solomon-Taylor J. A Transition Course to Reverse Empathy Decline in Medical Students. The clinical teacher. 2025 Aug;22(4):e70138. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.70138

Ward A, Gilligan C, Bennett-Weston A, Howick J. The development, delivery, and evaluation of novel longitudinal empathy-focused communication skills training at a UK medical school. PEC innovation. 2025 Sep 28:100436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecinn.2025.100436

Howick, J., Ward, A., Grantham, C. and Bennett‐Weston, A., 2026. Enhancing system empathy within a uk emergency department: a feasibility interprofessional priority setting exercise. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 32(2), p.e70394. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.70394

Teaching has been the main focus of Andy’s academic career since joining Leicester Medical School in 2005. His particular interests are clinical communication, empathy, patient-centred care and inclusion-health education.

Since 2016, Andy has led the Compassionate Holistic Diagnostic Detective (CHDD) course, a longitudinal part of the undergraduate medical curriculum bringing together clinical communication, physical examination, clinical reasoning, patient-centred care, patient safety and diversity. Under his leadership, CHDD has continued to develop through innovations including digital communication with patients, empathy mapping, the teaching and assessment of consultations involving patients and carers, and new approaches to helping students understand patients’ lives beyond their medical conditions. Several of these approaches have subsequently been adopted by other medical schools.

Developing other educators is also an important part of Andy’s work. He has recruited and supported a large community of GP tutors, contributes to faculty development, and mentors colleagues undertaking professional recognition through Advance HE.

From 2022 to 2026, Andy held a senior education role within the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare, latterly as Director of Education and Training. He led the development and delivery of empathy-focused education for healthcare professionals and educators and led the Centre’s teaching team that received a University Distinguished Teaching Team Award. This period also included his wider University work around empathy education, including the Empathy in Education Community of Practice, Empathy Champion Scheme and Empathy Fortnight.

Andy’s clinical practice has always informed his teaching. His work with people experiencing homelessness and others facing significant health inequalities has led to an increasing focus on inclusion-health education. He contributes to Project LIGHT and has developed placements and teaching that enable medical students to learn directly with people and organisations working in inclusion health.

Previously, as Director of Education and Training at Lakeside Healthcare Group, Andy led undergraduate and postgraduate education across a large primary-care organisation hosting students from several medical schools. He continues to contribute nationally and internationally to healthcare communication education.

Vice-Chair, UK Council for Clinical Communication (UKCCC)
National leadership role within the representative body for clinical communication education across UK medical schools. My work through UKCCC includes collaboration with colleagues across the sector and involvement in national developments in communication teaching and assessment. I expect to progress to Chair of UKCCC in 2027.

UK National Representative, International Association for Communication in Healthcare (EACH), 2020–2026
Represented the UK within EACH and served on its Advisory Committee. During this role, I organised educational and networking events for UK communication educators, contributed to strategic development within the organisation and supported international collaboration in healthcare communication education. I was awarded Fellowship of EACH in 2024 in recognition of my contribution to the organisation.

External Examiner, Brunel Medical School
External Examiner for the Professional Skills theme, Phase 1, with a particular focus on clinical communication, clinical skills and assessment.

Editorial Board Member, PEC Innovation
Member of the Editorial Board of PEC Innovation, an international journal focusing on innovation in patient-centred care and healthcare communication.

Project LIGHT Management Team
Contribute to the leadership and development of Project LIGHT, a student-staff partnership involving the University of Leicester and De Montfort University. Project LIGHT supports student-led work with people experiencing homelessness and develops opportunities for medical students to learn within inclusion-health settings, including Inclusion Healthcare.

Membership of the Academy of Medical Educators 2012 - https://www.medicaleducators.org/

Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy 2014 - https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/fellowship/senior-fellowship

University of Leicester Distinguished Teaching Fellowship 2015 - Awarded in recognition of teaching excellence, specifically the development of innovative teaching on the use of electronic communication with patients in collaboration with the social enterprise Patients Know Best.

Merit Award University of Leicester 2019 - Awarded for “outstanding teaching contributions, where the case is backed by significant evidence and extra contributions made by a member of staff to teaching”, specifically the creation and leadership of the Compassionate Holistic Diagnostic Detective (CHDD) course in Phase 1 of the medical curriculum.

Denis O’Leary Medical Educator Award 2020 - Awarded for creating and leading the design and delivery of a social prescribing scheme by medical students in general practice. https://www.oxcme.uk/dol-award-2020

Principal Fellow Higher Education Academy 2024 - https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/fellowship/principal-fellowship

Fellow of the International Association of Communication in Healthcare 2024 - https://each.international/fellowship/

The International Association of Communication in Healthcare Teaching Award 2024 - https://each.international/eachevents/awards/

University of Leicester Distinguished Teaching Team 2026 - Accepted as Director of Education and Training on behalf of the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare in recognition of the team’s strong and credible account of sustained, collaborative practice, with clear evidence of collective activity across disciplines, roles, and sectors. 

Workshop: “Using a novel technology to develop online consultation and communication between students and patients” with J. Bethea

UK Conference for Clinical Communication in Undergraduate Medical Education

11^th March 2015. Manchester, UK.

Workshop: “Integrating Diversity into Communication Skills Training” with N. Dogra

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare.

9^th September 2016. Heidelberg, Germany

Oral Presentation: “Teaching Medical Students About Life with a Long-Term Condition Through Online Communication with Patients"

Regional Conference. Society for Academic Primary Care

21^st March 2017. Lincoln, UK.

Workshop: “Integrating Diversity into Communication Skills Training” with N. Dogra

EACH Summer Event

5^th – 6^th September 2017. London, UK.

Elevator Pitch: “Exploring Life with a Long-Term Condition Using Asynchronous Online Communication”

Annual Scientific Meeting. Society for Academic Primary Care

12^th July 2017. Warwick, UK.

Dangerous Idea Presentation: “The Wrong People Doing the Right Jobs”

Annual Scientific Meeting. Society for Academic Primary Care

14th July 2017. Warwick, UK.

Workshop: “The teaching and assessment of triadic communication skills”

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare with D. Critoph (University of Cambridge), R. Westacott, N. Dogra

4^th September 2018. Porto, Portugal

Oral presentation: “Exploring life with a long-term condition using asynchronous online communication”.

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare.

3^rd September 2018. Porto, Portugal

Workshop: “Empathy maps: what are they, and how could they help develop empathy and compassion in medical students?” with A. Laidlaw, E. Watson, P. Cairns (St Andrews Medical School)

UK Conference for Clinical Communication in Undergraduate Medical Education

6th March 2019. Manchester, UK.

Workshop: “The teaching and assessment of triadic communication skills”

UK Conference for Clinical Communication in Undergraduate Medical Education

6^th March 2019. Manchester, UK.

Workshop: “Communication using technology” with L. Morris (Cardiff University).

UK Council for Clinical Communication Meeting

22^nd November 2019. Dundee, UK.

Workshop: “Teaching Remote Consultation Skills” with L. Morris (Cardiff University)

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare

9^th September 2020. Online.

Oral presentation: “Collaborative Development of a Triadic Consultation Assessment in two UK Medical Schools” with D. Critoph (University of Cambridge)

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare

10th September 2020. Online.

Roundtable discussion: “Sharing experiences of digital & phone consultations & working with Personal Protective Equipment” joint-chair with E. van Weel-Baumgarten (Radboud University Medical Center, Netherlands)

International Conference of Communication in Healthcare

16^th April 2021. Online.

Oral presentation: “The use of online assessment and text-based communication between medical students and patients in lifestyle modification”

AMEE 2021 Virtual Conference. 30^th August 2021. Online

Symposium (Chair): “Communicating Effectively with Inclusion Health Populations” with L. Andrews (Change Communication), A. Black (Public Health Scotland), A. Williamson (University of Glasgow)

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare

8^th September 2022. Glasgow.

Oral Presentation: "Working with Interpreters"

Pathways to Homelessness Conference

15th March 2023. London.

Plenary Lecture: "The Role of Empathy in Healthcare"

29th International Conference on Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services

21st September 2023. Vienna.

Plenary Lecture: "The Importance of Empathy in Inclusion Healthcare" with R. Cottington (Hepatitis C Trust)

Listening to Community Voices - Inclusion Health Symposium

18th October 2023. Anglia Ruskin University. Chelmsford.

Oral Presentation: "Collaborative development and evaluation of an OSCE station assessing the use of the SBAR tool in handover"

Ottawa Conference on the Assessment of Competence in Medicine and the Healthcare Professions

26th February 2024, Melbourne, Australia

Invited Workshop: "Creating Empathic Systems"

Having Impact on Health Communication - EACH Australia Professional Development

29th February 2024, University of Melbourne, Australia

Oral Presentation: "The Importance of Empathy in Inclusion Healthcare" with R. Cottington (Hepatitis C Trust)

Pathways from Homelessness 2024 International Conference

13th March 2024, London.

Plenary Lecture: "The Importance of Empathy in Inclusion Healthcare"

UK Council on Clinical Communication Annual Meeting

21st March 2024, Keele University

Symposium: "Inclusion healthcare – empathy, trauma-informed practice and medical education" with A. Williamson (University of Glasgow), S. Ahluwalia (Anglia Ruskin University), R. Cottington (Hepatitis C Trust)

ASME Annual Scientific Meeting

12th July 2024, University of Warwick

Workshop: "Teaching an empathy-focused approach to consultations with annoyed, upset or angry patients" with R. Babla (University of Leicester)

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare

11th September 2024, Zaragoza

Symposium: "Healthcare communication research on the teaching and learning of empathy" with A. Papageorgiou (University of Nicosia Medical School, Cyprus), J. Foucart (Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B), Belgium), I. Pinker (Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg)

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare

11th September 2024, Zaragoza

Workshop: "Signalling and empathy in consultations" with L. Noble (UCL Medical School).

UK Council for Clinical Communication in Undergraduate Medical Education Conference

15th April 2025

Workshop: "Teaching an empathy-focused approach to consultations with annoyed, upset or angry patients"

10th International Clinical Skills Conference, Prato, Italy

20th May 2025

Plenary Lecture: "Teaching Empathy"

Primary care staff development day, University of Newcastle Medical School

19th June 2025

Masterclass: "Empathy on the Margins"  with R. Cottington (Hep C Trust) and N. Abuliubda (Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare)

Global Empathy in Healthcare Network Symposium: ‘Rehumanising Healthcare in a Divided World’

16th September 2025

Workshop: "Creating Empathic Teams in Primary Care" with J. Howick (Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare)

Royal College of General Practitioners Annual Conference. Newport, Wales.

9th October 2025

Aston Medical School GP Educator Conference

14th April 2026

Plenary:"Teaching Empathy in Clinical Settings" 

21st April 2026 

Keynote: "Empathy in Healthcare: Evidence, Connection, and Transformative Practice"

The 7th International English for Healthcare Conference, Krakow, Poland. https://www.englishforhealthcare.com/

September 11th and 12th 2026

Keynote: "Empathic communication: It's not what you say, it's what you feel when you say it."

International Conference for Communication in Healthcare. Belfast UK. https://fitwise.eventsair.com/icch2026/

14th-18th September 2026

MBChB - 1992 (Leicester)

Post Graduate Certificate in Medical Education - 2007 (De Montfort University)

MSc - Clinical Leadership Education and Research - 2021 (De Montfort University)

MRCGP - Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners