This is the first Human Factors in Clinical Practice course that has been run for NUH staff and initially it is being targeted at qualified staff from the Emergency Department and Operating Theatre Department at QMC campus.

Future versions of the course will be developed alongside appropriate faculty development to focus on other clinical areas at each campus of NUH and across the wider healthcare community.

Background
In healthcare we have lagged behind various safety-critical industries that have a long history of learning from errors and analysing why their workforce and the organisations in which they work sometimes fail to perform optimally or as predicted. The example often used is aviation, but others include the nuclear and oil industries.

These ‘high reliability’ industries set themselves apart by their ability to analyse and apply important lessons from past and current performance to benefit the education and continuing professional development of their workforce, and introduce changes in practice based on evidence and need. This strategic approach helps enhance an existing safety culture that prevents occurrence or mitigates the potential severity of untoward incidents in the workplace more effectively.

The intention of the ‘Human Factors in Clinical Practice’ course is to translate and develop these principles for our healthcare environment and improve patient safety in our clinical practice. The course is relevant for experienced clinical staff of all health professions who work within acute healthcare specialties.

Course Aims
The programme has been designed to develop participants’ ability to observe and analyse clinical practice objectively, as well as become more self aware of their own performance and the potential limitations or factors around them in the clinical environment and organisation that might impede consistent delivery of safe care.

The course will also help participants’ feedback (or debrief) to colleagues and managers in relation to untoward incidents or unplanned events, and identify changes worthy of implementation in clinical practice that will improve patient safety and enhance the quality of care provided in their clinical environment.

The course consists of 6 contact days scheduled as three separate 2 day blocks with a period of several weeks in-between to allow participants to assimilate the course content and consider the application of new ideas in their clinical practice. This first course runs from November ‘10 – January ’11: Faculty are drawn from the Trent Simulation and Clinical Skills Centre along with a multiprofessional clinical faculty recruited from NUH.

Friday 19th November 2010 - Improving Patient Safety: Managing Human Factors
This one day seminar is an opportunity for Managers, Clinical Leads and Governance Leads to understand how best this project can be applied to benefit patient safety and quality improvement activity across NUH in 2011.

It is a joint venture between TSCSC and Terema who have specific expertise and experience in the application of human factors training to healthcare in the UK.

Further Information
Download the 'how to guide' for implementing human factors in healthcare

For further information about any of the Human Factors programmes and seminars please contact: