In July, the SafetyNet Human Factors & Ergonomics Working Group held an in-person seminar in Leeds, bringing together 26 participants from diverse backgrounds and research projects across the PSRCs. Highlights of the day included presentations from PSRC colleagues and a keynote speech by Gill Gookey, a Chartered Human Factors Specialist working with Health Innovation East Midlands. Gill described how her team co-designed a set of personas representing people with learning disabilities, aimed at informing improvements in medication safety.

There were six plenary presentations, covering topics such as a qualitative exploration of coroners’ Section 20 reports in psychological care, the use of simulation as a mapping tool for adverse events in endoscopy, and a local analysis of the strength of incident investigation recommendations.

We were delighted to award the prize for Best Presentation to Hilary Belither, a clinician researcher from the NIHR Greater Manchester PSRC, for her work on Human Factors.

Next Steps

The Working Group already has two more seminars scheduled for the autumn term:

• 2 October – Dr Laura Pickup, Head of Human Factors at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, will speak on “Human Factors by Stealth”
• 26 November – Dr Livi Joseph, YH PSRC, will present on “Equity and Equality in Human Factors”

Looking ahead to 2026, the HFE Working Group will welcome Fran Ives, President of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, who will speak about cross-industry working and learning. Plans are also underway for a “Sandpit Event” — an opportunity for interested members to come together and develop research questions or ideas into outlines for future grant submissions.

If you would like to get involved, please contact Dr Adam Sutherland at a.b.sutherland@bradford.ac.uk

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