Overview

Whatever your role within healthcare you will make mistakes. You are human. Statistically you are highly likely to be involved in errors that result in patient harm. Sadly, quite a few of you will be involved in a patient death that could have been prevented. How will you cope?

Other safety critical industries have identified ways in which normal human error can be avoided, reduced or trapped before it becomes harm. This involves changes to the system around you, but also in how you develop personal strategies and behaviours that make it easier to get it right, and harder to get it wrong. This talk will look at practical examples and tools that make a difference; but will also give the opportunity to debate and discuss safety in healthcare and the essential role of “failure” in our lives.

Martin Bromiley is an airline Captain flying for a major UK airline, with a background in safety and human factors In 2005 his late wife and mother to his two children died during a routine hospital procedure. A subsequent independent review established her death was the direct result of issues around what is termed human factors. In the hope of helping healthcare learn from such a tragedy, Martin made the film “Just a Routine Operation” which many medics, clinicians and allied health professionals will have seen during the last decade.

As a result of his experience of working with the healthcare community, Martin founded the Clinical Human Factors Group, a charitable trust which aims to promote best practice around human factors. www.chfg.org Since then the Group has promoted human factors at the highest levels in healthcare, making a significant contribution to current thinking. Martin routinely contributes to national work at politically and policy level; and has been responsible for changes in policy and legislation aiming to improve safety. His story helped inspire the best selling book, “Black Box Thinking” by Times journalist and Olympic Sportsman Matthew Syed. Martin also contributes regularly to TV, Radio and the newspapers on the topic of healthcare safety.

Martin’s work has been recognised through awards from a number of Royal Colleges and professional bodies. In the 2016 New Year Honours list Martin was awarded an OBE for his work to further patient safety; in 2017 he became an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; and in 2018 was award an Honorary Doctorate by Cranfield University. Despite all this, Martin managed to lock himself out of his house at the start of 2019. He is human!