Brook Howells is a Programme Manager for AQuA. In her first blog, she shares some of her thoughts on Human Factors from recent conferences, and how this has influenced care for patients. You can also see some of her updates from the conferences or tweet her at @BrookH_AQuA.
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| Brook Howells, Programme Manager |
In a health and care context, Human Factors refers to understanding how everyday human behaviour and environments can influence and impact on the safety of patients and care
I deliver the Introduction to Human Factors course for AQuA and am also keen on weaving HF thinking into our other programmes too, so I was really interested to see what extra knowledge and inspiration I could pick up.
The Haelo conference, held under the wings of a Concord at Manchester Airport, took each of several key aspects of HF – situational awareness, teamwork, communication, culture, interpersonal and inter-agency collaboration and so on – and used real life examples to add detail in a really meaningful way.
A lot was covered and it was clear that this is already a vast subject and one that will continue to grow; healthcare has a lot to learn!
It was really encouraging however to hear from the other industries that they are still very much learning too; it is and I think always will be an area for continuous improvement.
I deliver the Introduction to Human Factors course for AQuA and am also keen on weaving HF thinking into our other programmes too, so I was really interested to see what extra knowledge and inspiration I could pick up.
The Haelo conference, held under the wings of a Concord at Manchester Airport, took each of several key aspects of HF – situational awareness, teamwork, communication, culture, interpersonal and inter-agency collaboration and so on – and used real life examples to add detail in a really meaningful way.
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| Human Factors Conference 2017, Manchester Airport (Haelo) |
It was really encouraging however to hear from the other industries that they are still very much learning too; it is and I think always will be an area for continuous improvement.
It was also really interesting to hear how many presentations highlighted the need to combine HF thinking with quality improvement methodology and we can continue to support this for AQuA members.
The Patient Safety Congress was on a much bigger and broader scale but had a whole day’s workstream dedicated to Human Factors – specifically to how we can approach improvement in this area from a systems perspective.
Most interesting from me, given my other AQuA ‘hat’ of Person-Centred Care Programme Manager, was the emphasis throughout on the need to better involve patients to improve both safety and quality.
At AQuA we have recognised this link for a long time but I don’t think it has been made so explicitly on this sort of stage before. Even Sir Robert Francis QC made reference to it in his keynote speech!
The most inspiring parts of the day were hearing the experiences of two patients who had been brave enough to share their stories; Kathryn Walton and Susanna Stanford.
Kathryn was fortunate enough that once the error was recognised, an apology came swiftly and both the medic and his hospital trust sought to involve her in helping to understand and resolve the situation.
Susanna on the other hand spoke of the vulnerability of being a patient, the difficulty in speaking up even when you are in great danger or pain, and the impact of feeling totally isolated in a room crowded with professionals.
Susanna has made a video about her experience in conjunction with the Obstetrics Anaesthetists’ Association and I would urge you all to go and watch. I think the lessons to be learnt, about communication and humility and the opportunities to improve the service we offer to patients, should resonate with anyone involved in healthcare.
The Patient Safety Congress was on a much bigger and broader scale but had a whole day’s workstream dedicated to Human Factors – specifically to how we can approach improvement in this area from a systems perspective.
Most interesting from me, given my other AQuA ‘hat’ of Person-Centred Care Programme Manager, was the emphasis throughout on the need to better involve patients to improve both safety and quality.
At AQuA we have recognised this link for a long time but I don’t think it has been made so explicitly on this sort of stage before. Even Sir Robert Francis QC made reference to it in his keynote speech!
The most inspiring parts of the day were hearing the experiences of two patients who had been brave enough to share their stories; Kathryn Walton and Susanna Stanford.
Kathryn was fortunate enough that once the error was recognised, an apology came swiftly and both the medic and his hospital trust sought to involve her in helping to understand and resolve the situation.
Susanna on the other hand spoke of the vulnerability of being a patient, the difficulty in speaking up even when you are in great danger or pain, and the impact of feeling totally isolated in a room crowded with professionals.
Susanna has made a video about her experience in conjunction with the Obstetrics Anaesthetists’ Association and I would urge you all to go and watch. I think the lessons to be learnt, about communication and humility and the opportunities to improve the service we offer to patients, should resonate with anyone involved in healthcare.
Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments below, or Tweet us at @AQuA_NHS.
