What is Human Factors and Ergonomics and why does it matter in Healthcare?
The science of applying Human Factors and Ergonomic principles to enhance safety within the critical risk industries has now reached healthcare, through the National Patient Strategy and Patient Safety Incident Response Framework PSIRF. Many organisations including Care Quality Commission (CQC), the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSSIB) now include Human Factors in their publications and Human Factors training for all frontline and healthcare staff is now mandated through the National Patient Safety Syllabus
Human Factors – “Human Factors and Ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimise human well-being and overall system performance.” International Ergonomics Association.
A Systems-based Approach to Safety and Improvement
Patient safety investigation – a Human Factors approach takes a broader view, moving away from the idea of ‘human error’ and a ‘root cause’ to explore concepts of emergence and performance variability. To think about systems – avoid a reactionary quick fix and try to understand the interactions and flows within a system of work to find solutions. To think about design – how to design and test equipment, workspaces or processes with the end-user in mind
Being Human’s approach combines Human Factors science and theory with extensive clinical experience, expertly translating these concepts to the real world of healthcare. Our diverse team are all experts in their field including Human Factors/Ergonomics, Psychology, Patient Safety, Clinical Education, Nursing and Medicine. With significant clinical experience in maternity, theatres, critical care, renal, ED and anaesthetics.
Meet the Team
Thank you for choosing Being Human in Healthcare. As healthcare professionals and educators we understand the need to adapt aviation style Human Factors knowledge and techniques, to make them more relevant and applicable to the highly complex and variable world of health and social care. We look forward to meeting you and sharing our enthusiasm for Human Factors and healthcare training courses.
Dr Jennifer Blair MB BCh, MSc, FFARCSI, Grad.CIEHF
Company Director Former NHS Consultant Anaesthetist
Jen worked in London as an NHS Consultant Anaesthetist for over 23 years and has extensive experience in Human Factors, Patient Safety and both medical and simulation-based education. During Jen’s successful career in the NHS she held many senior posts, for example, Royal College of Anaesthetists College Tutor and Training Programme Director, and Trust Director of Simulation and Human Factors. Jen has an MSc in Applied Ergonomics and Human factors and is passionate about sharing this Human Factors knowledge, equipping staff with practical tools that enhance patient safety and inspiring those in leadership positions to consider Human Factors Science in their decision making.
Jess Wadsworth RN, BSc, MA, FHEA, Tech.CIEHF
Company Director Senior Nurse Educator
Jess is a senior registered nurse working in London for over 25 years. She has an MA in Clinical Education and has tutored on the PGCert at King’s College London. Her specialist interests are inter-professional education, Human Factors, simulation-based education patient safety and continuous improvement. She has a technical qualification in Human Factors and is working towards becoming a chartered Human Factors specialist. Jess works part time in the NHS as Lead for Simulation and Human Factors lead where she is passionate about the unification of Human Factors, Continuous Improvement and Patient Safety, within the context of PSIRF and the Patient Safety Syllabus.
Prof Suzette Woodward
Associate Consultant AdvisorRGN, RSCN, DipMS, MSc, DProf, DSc
Prof Suzette Woodward is an internationally renowned expert in patient safety who as at the forefront of safety thinking in healthcare. Suzette is a Professor of Patient Safety, now a freelance patient safety specialist providing strategic advice on all aspects of patient safety and in particular related to the latest concepts and theories on safety II, incivility and a just culture. She has worked in the NHS for over 40 years, starting out as a paediatric intensive care nurse she has specialised in patient safety at a national level for over two decades. Suzette has held Executive Board positions at the National Patient Safety Agency and NHS Resolution and worked with health ministries across the world to help shape their patient safety strategies. Over the last six years Suzette was the National Clinical Director for the Sign up to Safety Campaign and worked as a Senior Policy Advisor for the Department of Health and Social Care. She has a doctorate in patient safety and is a Visiting Professor for the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College University London and Honorary Doctor of Science at the University of West London. She is author of a blog, numerous articles and two books; Rethinking Patient Safety and Implementing Patient Safety.
Mark Sujan
Associate Consultant Advisor Chartered Ergonomist (CErgHF) and a Trustee of the Chartered Institiute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF)
Mark is the Managing Director of Human Factors Everywhere Ltd. Clients include leading universities (University of Oxford, University of York), public organisations and healthcare providers, charities and small businesses. Human Factors Everywhere is a registered consultancy with the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF), providing assurance to clients that they can expect trustworthy and accredited ergonomics expertise. Our name is our vision and aspiration – to contribute Human Factors & Ergonomics expertise to all walks of life to improve the safety and efficiency of activities, and the wellbeing of people.
Dr Sabrina Vitello MRCP FHEA MSc Medical Education Palliative Care Specialty Registrar Senior Human Factors Trainer
Sabrina is a senior doctor in Palliative Care Medicine, working in London with a MSc in Medical Education from Cardiff University. She has developed a clinical career which interfaces with her passion for Human Factors, advanced communication and interprofessional simulation-based education. Sabrina brings extensive experience in supporting and collaborating with patients and familes and is passionate about teaching concepts around how to compassionately engage and involve those affected by patient safety events, under PSIRF. Her broad experience working with multi-professional teams to design and deliver a wide array of educational courses has given her a unique perspective on the value of exploring how Human Factors can help us work well at an individual, team and system level.
Mr Alan Parbhoo
FRCS(OMFS Gold Medal) MBBS BSc BDS, Senior Human Factors Trainer
Alan is an NHS Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeon, with nearly ten years experience, with a special interest in managing TMJ disorders and facial growth problems. He is also Deputy Chair of the Skin Cancer Service at his NHS Trust which involves extensive collaboration with the multi-disciplinary team. In addition to his busy and rewarding clinical work he has had both a practical and a research interest in patient safety for many years. He is a Royal College NoTSS (Non-Technical Surgical Skills) trainer. This, combined with expertise in Clinical Human Factors, has led to a special interest in safety in the operating theatre including the relevance of situational awareness to patient safety, and also active involvement in incident investigations, including thematic reviews. Alan is part of the PSIRF implementation committee in his NHS trust. He is a qualified Human Factors trainer, with extensive experience of teaching Human Factors to doctors, nurses, midwives and Allied Health Professionals. He is passionate about enthusing staff to the relevance of Human Factors to patient safety, and a proponent of the systems-based approach. Alan is also a longstanding supporter of the Civility Saves Lives campaign and a Freedom to Speak Up Ambassador.”
Kenny Ajayi BSc MSc Grad.CIEHF, NHS Award in Executive Healthcare Leadership Senior Human Factors Trainer
Kenny Ajayi has a background in patient safety, human factors, healthcare innovation and programme management. He was Programme Director for a regional Patient Safety Collaborative (PSC), Associate Director for Quality and Safety, and Portfolio Lead for the Children and Young Person’s Mental Health Mission at an Health Innovation Network (HIN). Kenny’s work has been recognised by two prestigious Health Service Journal (HSJ) national awards in patient safety innovation and partnership. He led the team that pioneered the nationally adopted Suspicion of Sepsis Insights Dashboard innovation.Earlier in his career, Kenny was a physiotherapist and later held roles in clinical ergonomics and human factors in the NHS and local authority. He held a director role in a consultancy providing risk management services to the NHS, local authorities and the private sector.He holds two Masters degrees. First in ergonomics/human factors from University College London and one in Integrated Governance in Healthcare Communities. He is also a visiting lecturer for the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College University London. Kenny brings a range of public sector and commercial/consulting experience to Being Human.Associate Healthcare Trainers
Meet our extended team of multi-professional healthcare professionals. Our qualified healthcare associate trainers work within healthcare and have extensive teaching experience and qualifications
Dr Zahra Rajput
Associate Trainer
Dr Zahra Rajput BSc MBBS PG Cert (Clin Ed)
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) Anaesthetic Registrar – London
Zahra is an Anaesthetic Registrar working in London and has a strong interest in education, having completed her PG Certificate in Clinical Education. She also has extensive experience in inter-professional education and is passionate about enhancing the multi-professional team’s ability to work safely. Zahra also has expertise in course design and teaching, ranging from undergraduate programmes to work based learning sessions.
This film, scripted and developed by Jess and Jen in their other work is a great resource and is used on the Patient Safety Specialist Training.
We believe civility saves lives which is why, alongside Dr Chris Turner we are active members of this national campaign.
Read Dr Suzette Woodward, our Associate Consultant Advisor’s Patient Safety blog, where you will find links to great articles and resources.
The chartered institute for ergonomics and human factors works to set standards and promote high quality human factors and ergonomics for practice
Set up by the health foundation and Martin Bromiley as an independant charity that works for mangers and clinical profesionals to make healthcare safer
Access many up to date resources through the Patient Safety Learning Hub
Read our article in the New Statesman healthcare supplement, Harnessing Human Factors in Healthcare.
Flow Chart of Safety Management Process
We have developed this overview of the new PSIRF safety management system with NHSE