Reducing human error in healthcare
Systematic, Straightforward, Successful
Description
This course helps delegates to understand how human error affects provision of healthcare: how its vulnerability can be assessed systematically and addressed effectively.
Why you should attend
Everyday human errors, such as forgetting or overlooking something important, misunderstandings and mix-ups happen even to people who are competent and doing their best to avoid them. Many of these errors need not happen if effects of adverse influences can be identified and reduced. This can often be achieved quickly, easily and without great cost. Those working in healthcare can use this approach to proactively reduce risk to patients, rather than just learning from incidents where harm does occur. Avoiding time lost in dealing with consequences of even relatively minor errors is a valuable collateral benefit.
Course Content
- insight into how and why human error happens, natural characteristics and limitations of human performance. Important distinctions are made between differing kinds of error
- review of key factors that increase likelihood of error, with particular emphasis on interruptions, multitasking and other demands typical of a busy healthcare environment
- introduction to practical use of systematic tools and processes used to identify risk of errors and their underlying causes
- review of 'good practices' that support development of error risk reduction plans, both from within healthcare and others kinds of organisations where this kind of improvement is a high priority
Who should attend
Directors, managers, quality practitioners, healthcare professionals and anyone else responsible for reducing the occurrence of human error, in clinical and non-clinical activities.
Course Style
- Presentations illustrated by extensive video and other visual material
- Interactive discussion and group exercises
Pre-Course Requirements
No prior knowledge of the subject is required. However, those who have broad experience of healthcare provision processes and systematic improvement techniques are likely to gain most from this course.
Venue
All courses are run at our headquarters near Hyde Park Corner in London. See Inside the CQI for more information about the venue.
HEB
HEB provides a bridge between the extensive body of knowledge about human error and organisations that need to apply it to real-world problems, within the constraints of an imperfect world. Diverse knowledge, skills and world-wide experience enable HEB to guide organisations toward practical ways of sustaining error risk reduction. They have developed many tools, techniques and materials to support these activities and applied them in some of the world's best organisations.
Tutors
John Evans FCQI has been helping organisations to reduce the risk of human error for more than 25 years. He trained as both an engineer and psychologist and was among the first to introduce systematic application of behavioural science know-how to quality improvement. He was a contributor to the Department of Health's 'Improving Medication Safety' initiative. He has helped healthcare professionals to adapt and apply to their own work, error risk reduction techniques used successfully in other kinds of organisations.
Anne-Marie Harrison has held senior appointments in Line Management and specialist roles, developing and sustaining Operational Excellence in 'world class' suppliers to healthcare providers. Her considerable practical experience of root cause analysis, leading to continuous improvement has made a valuable contribution to HEB's programme development.
