New guidance to help design more effective work procedures

New guidance to help design more effective work procedures

New guidance aimed at helping healthcare workers design more effective working procedures has been developed by the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF).

The collateral, which includes interactive infographics, posters and a detailed information booklet, is the latest initiative by the Institute in supporting the battle against Covid-19.

The project has been led by Professor Paul Bowie, Programme Director Safety & Improvement at NHS Education for Scotland and lead on CIEHF’s Healthcare group with support from human factors and medical professionals across the country.

Paul Bowie said: “Good working procedures are absolutely essential at the heart of the healthcare system. They can often be blamed when something goes wrong, particularly when staff are under pressure as they are right now.

“We felt the time was right to produce some easy to follow guidance that healthcare staff can use when they are either designing and implementing new working procedures or checking that that the ones they are using are fit for purpose,” he added.

The guidelines explain what a work procedure is, why they are important and what the challenges are in using them. It goes on to give the most up-to-date guidance on how to create, test, use and review each one.

The collateral includes an infographic that can be viewed on any device and which can be printed to be used as a wall poster. There is also an interactive infographic that can be viewed online that gives healthcare staff a second level of more detailed information. And there is a booklet that can be downloaded as a pdf and which contains all the relevant guidance.

Noorzaman Rashid, CIEHF Chief Executive, said: “This is an important addition to the range of guidance we have been developing to support the frontline in this crisis. I am certain that healthcare professionals will find it useful. More will follow in the near future.

“I would highly recommend that all Human Factors (HF) professionals visit the Covid-19 pages on our website which are carrying the latest updates relevant to them on the crisis.”

The guidance package can be found on the CIEHF website.

The guidance is also available in the Patient Safety zone on Turas Learn.

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