Why is safety in intrapartum electronic fetal monitoring so hard? A qualitative study combining human factors/ergonomics and social science analysis.

Background: Problems in intrapartum electronic fetal monitoring with cardiotocography (CTG) remain a major area of preventable harm. Poor understanding of the range of influences on safety may have hindered improvement. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, we sought to characterise the everyday practice of CTG monitoring and the work systems within which it takes place, with the goal of identifying potential sources of risk.

Integrating systemic accident analysis into patient safety incident investigation practices.

There is growing awareness of the limitations of current practice regarding the investigation of patient safety incidents, including a reliance on Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and a lack of safety expertise. Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) can offer safety expertise and systemic approaches to incident analysis. However, HFE is underutilised in healthcare.

A participatory systems approach to design for safer integrated medicine management.

It is recognised that whole systems approaches are required in the design and development of complex health care services. Application of a systems approach benefits from the involvement of key stakeholders. However, participation in the context of community based health care is particularly challenging due to busy and geographically distributed stakeholders.