More holes than cheese. What prevents the delivery of effective, high quality, and safe healthcare in England?

What prevents the delivery of effective, high quality, and safe healthcare in the National Health Service (NHS) in England? This paper presents 760 challenges which 330 NHS staff reported as preventing the delivery of effective, high quality and safe care. Some problems have been known for over 25 years (staff shortages, finance and patient complexity) but other challenges raise questions about the commitment of the NHS to patient and staff safety. For example Organisational Culture leading to ‘stifling bureaucracy’, ‘odds stacked against smooth […] working’ and Workload resulting in ‘firefighting daily’ and ‘perpetual crisis mode’. The role of Human Factors/Ergonomics professional input (engagement with safety scientists) is discussed in the context of success stories and examples of Human Factors Integration from other safety critical industries (Defence, Nuclear and Rail)

Human Factors for Health & Social Care

The purpose of this White Paper is to provide the authoritative guide to aid understanding of how Human Factors can and should be used, and the competence and experience needed to manage effort, solve problems and make decisions. It describes how Human Factors can bring a depth and clarity of understanding to Health and Social Care issues

U can’t touch this! Face touching behaviour whilst driving: implications for health, hygiene and human factors

Analysis of thirty-one hours of video-data documenting 36 experienced drivers highlighted the prevalence of face-touching, with 819 contacts identified (mean frequency: 26.4 face touches/hour (FT/h); mean duration: 3.9-seconds). Fewer face-touches occurred in high primary workload conditions (where additional physical/cognitive demands were placed on drivers), compared to low workload (4.4 and 26.1 FT/h, respectively). In 42.5% of touches (or 11.2 FT/h), mucous membrane contact was made, with fingertips (33.1%) and thumbs (35.6%) most commonly employed. Individual behaviours differed (ranging from 5.1 to 90.7 FT/h), but there were no significant differences identified between genders, age-groups or hand used. Results are of relevance from an epidemiological/hygiene perspective within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (and can therefore inform the design of practical solutions and encourage behavioural change to reduce the risk of self-inoculation while driving), but they also help to elucidate how habitual human behaviours are imbricated with the routine accomplishment of tasks