Impacts of Inadequate Design
In a recent publication, the Clinical Human Factors Group reports that:
- 230 avoidable deaths occur each week in the NHS - many due to poor designs causing people to make mistakes
- Poor designs in healthcare often go unreported or are thought to be too difficult to resolve. So when staff make mistakes, managers focus on retraining, improving procedures and warnings.
- Not reporting and fixing design issues means mistakes are repeated.
Applying human factors during design and procurement ensures equipment, devices and systems used in healthcare help staff get it right the first time and deliver safe and effective healthcare.
Applying Human Factors for safer Healthcare design
by The Clinical Human Factors Group
A major Human Factors issue in healthcare is the design and usability of medical devices - inadequate user-centred design is implicated in many patient safety incidents and is often the cause of significant frustration and irritation for clinicians and others.
To read more about UK and EU recommended guidance on the design of medical devices and drug-device combination products see the UK Government website.