Contact information
LOCATION
Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences
John Radcliffe Hospital, Level 5
Oxford
Research groups
Sachal Safdar
MBBS, MSc (Cognitive Neuroscience)
Clinical Research Fellow
I began my medical career in clinical practice before the COVID pandemic. As the outbreak changed the way we look at all things – including medicine – I began to slowly get more and more involved in research. My area of interest is neuropsychiatric research, which I have been a part of in Pakistan and have aimed to build on with my MSc in the UK.
When not at work, you will find me in travel, in a cinema or on a writing desk with a pen and many sheets of empty paper.
RESEARCH
The RESPOND trial focuses on how we can improve human factors in clinical practice, to improve outcomes in patients undergoing emergency surgery.
We aim to learn from industries like aviation and professional sport to better understand how teams can work together, in a sort of ‘orbit’, around the surgical patient – and to ‘rescue’ patients who deteriorate after surgery.
To that end, we focus on five key areas:
- Patient involvement in his/her own care
- Medical team strengthening
- Standard operating procedures to build a more resilient team
- Medical language standardized for immediate and convenient consulting
- Health economics
We are currently piloting the RESPOND trial at three hospitals but are aiming to expand and go national next year – this is aimed at involving 24 UK hospitals.