Dr Margaret McCartney

Senior Clinical Lecturer in General Practice

Researcher profile

Email

mm494@st-andrews.ac.uk

 

Biography

Dr Margaret McCartney MBChB, MRCGP, PhD, FRSE

Dr McCartney is a practicing general practitoner in addition to her academic role in St Andrews, where she is Director of the Centre for Evidence and Values in healthcare. She is particularly interested in evidence based medicine, conflicts of interest, screening, risk, bias, and public communication about healthcare. She is also an award winning writer and broadcaster, has written three books about evidence in healthcare for the lay public and has been a columnist for the FT and the BMJ. She was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2023 and completed her PhD in 2024.  She is also a Director of Beira's Place, Edinburgh. Her declarations of interest are at whopaysthisdoctor.org. She is always happy to hear from under and postgraduate students who are interested in research in these areas. She was profiled for the University here. 

PhD supervision

• Emma Davies

Selected publications

• Open access

  Brief report of a pilot test of an audit tool for assurance of Declarations of Interest policy in NICE COVID-19 guidance production

  Edmondson, H., Patrick, H., Boyce, S., McCartney, M., Patel, A., Majeed, M., Bewley, S. & Harris, K., 9 Apr 2025, In: Clinical and Public Health Guidelines. 2, 2, p. 1-5 5 p., e70007.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access

  Does online information about hormone replacement therapy (or menopause hormone therapy) reflect indications from the British National Formulary and guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: a cross-sectional study of UK media

  McCartney, M., Morgan-Young, R., Sullivan, F., Murphy, D. J., Albulushi, J. & Larkin, J., 4 Sept 2025, In: BMJ Open. 15, 9, p. 1-10 10 p., e094773.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access

  From early diagnosis to optimal diagnosis: a conference report on what excellent innovation should look like

  Wallis , S., McCartney, M., Donnelly, P. D. & Sullivan, F., 13 Jun 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: BMJ Innovations. Online First

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Interactions with industry: evidence briefing to support decision-making

  Davies, E. & McCartney, M., 2025, 8 p.

  Research output: Other contribution

• Open access

  The NHS and the pharmaceutical industry: high risk of harmful interactions

  McCartney, M., Jun 2025, In: Future Healthcare Journal. 12, 2, p. 1-4 4 p., 100257.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• The pitfalls of diagnostic self-tests

  Watson, J. & McCartney, M., 23 Jul 2025, In: The BMJ. 390, p. r1476

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial

• Open access

  What features should an effective system for declaring and managing conflicts of interest in healthcare have? An adapted Delphi study of key stakeholders in the UK

  McCartney, M., Metsis, K., Orr, K., Millum, J., Wilkes, A. & Sullivan, F., 18 Sept 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: BMJ Open. 15, 9, p. 1-9 9 p., e103058.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• What is the role of doctors?

  McCartney, M. & Sullivan, F., 27 Aug 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: British Medical Journal. 390, r1810.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate

• Captured by design: the drug industry and UK healthcare

  McCartney, M., Sullivan, F. & Abbasi, K., 19 Feb 2024, In: The BMJ. 384, q408.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial

• Children’s sexual development and privacy: a call for evidence-based ethical policy

  Fish, M., McCartney, M. M. & Earp, B. D., 1 May 2024, In: Clinical Pediatrics. 63, 4, 4 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review

 

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