Quality, Reliability, Safety and Teamwork Unit
- 01865 740870 (fax 01865 768876)
- madeline.mitchell@nds.ox.ac.uk
Improving quality of care
Evaluating approaches to change
Developing new methods
This research group aims to develop understanding of the problems of safety and reliability in healthcare and to investigate potential solutions.
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© SXC
Surgical care is not as reliable as it should be. Worldwide, about 10% of patients are inadvertently harmed while receiving treatment in the healthcare system. In recent years, observational studies have documented the large burden of inadvertent harm and mortality from the effects of modern healthcare.
Research into the causes of this serious problem has focused largely on failures in communication and teamwork between healthcare staff, and on faults in the system of work which make it inherently unsafe.
We are taking part in on-going work to develop the tools needed for this relatively new field of reserach. This includes taxonomies, definitions and, importantly, new measures and scales. Our emphasis is on studies of interventions which may improve quality, reliability and safety. We have taken a strategic decision to study and adapt methods from high reliability organisations in other spheres of work as one of our main methods for developing these.
For more information on the group, and ongoing research projects, please see below:
Our team
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Peter McCulloch
Professor of Surgical Science and Practice
