Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) is the scientific approach to the study of human work, from the perspective of the environment and teams people work in, the equipment that they use and the external influences over all those things. System design and behaviour are important aspects of patient safety research, and the NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaborations (PSRCs) are committed to supporting learning and increasing capacity in this field.

If you want to learn how to apply HFE principles to your current patient safety research or practice – or if you’d like to find out what others are doing in this area – you’re invited to join our Human Factors and Ergonomics in Patient Safety Research summer seminar, taking place on 15 July in Leeds.

 Date: 15 July 2025

Guest speaker

Gill Gookey, Head of Medicines Safety Programme Delivery at Health Innovation East Midlands

Gill is a Human Factors Specialist and will present the output of a project to design personas representing people with a learning disability that will soon be used in the national Medicines Safety Improvement Programme to support teams designing improved healthcare services.

Proposed Agenda

Plenary speakers and workshops will offer support for delegates to identify and integrate HFE in new or existing workstreams. We welcome suggestions for workshop topics and/or offers to facilitate sessions. Please contact Adam Sutherland at a.b.sutherland@bradford.ac.uk or Brook Howells at rmgx2773@leeds.ac.uk.

Call for abstracts

We will welcome anyone with work that aligns with the principles of HFE to come and share their work or proposals in a friendly and collaborative environment. There will be a prize of a £25 voucher for the best presentation, voted for by the delegates.

Abstracts on any HFE-related work in the patient safety space are invited.

If you’re struggling to make the link between your work and HFE, the following suggestions might help:

• Intervention design in any clinical setting (including participatory methods or co-design)
• Understanding the perspectives and needs of those with different abilities (e.g. neurodiversity, physical or cognitive abilities)
• Usability testing of interventions/devices
• Understanding and incorporating work-as-done perspectives into epidemiological studies and intervention design

You may also find this list helpful.

Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and submitted by email to Brook Howells at rmgx2773@leeds.ac.uk by May 31st 2025.

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