Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Accept all cookies Reject all non-essential cookies Find out more

Human factors: Designing health services for people

Blogs General

Let me start with a statement of the blindingly obvious: People are fundamental to health services. Design whatever health system you like but you'll still need people to deliver healthcare to those other people - patients.

As an example, Oxford University Hospitals Trust has more than 12,000 staff and around one million patient contacts each year.

So when you're designing or redesigning parts of your hospital or drawing up new processes and procedures, it's probably a good idea to take the people into account…

For example, you have two drugs to inject into a patient. One needs to be injected into the spine, the other into a vein. The catch: If you inject the second drug into the spine, it is almost always fatal. The problem: The two drugs look pretty much the same – syringes in clear packaging.

Read more (Oxford Science blog)

Similar stories

Oxford spinout Optellum secures $14m funding to advance pioneering AI-powered lung cancer diagnosis technology

Optellum, a University of Oxford spinout that provides a breakthrough AI platform to diagnose and treat early-stage lung cancer, has raised $14 million in a Series A funding round.

New study shows higher rate of fractures in people with intellectual disability

In the most comprehensive study of its kind, researchers at the University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust found a substantially higher rate of fractures in people with intellectual disability compared with people of the same age and gender without an intellectual disability.

Kia Nobre awarded prestigious C.L. de Carvalho- Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science 2022

New evidence for how our brains handle surprise

A new study from the Bruno Group is challenging our perceptions of how the different regions of the cerebral cortex function. A group of ‘quiet’ cells in the somatosensory cortex that rarely respond to touch have been found to react mainly to surprising circumstances. The results suggest their function is not necessarily driven by touch, but may indicate an important and previously unidentified role across all the major cortices.

Language learning difficulties in children linked to brain differences

A new study using MRI has revealed structural brain changes in children with developmental language disorder (DLD), a common but under-recognised difficulty in language learning. Children with DLD aged 10-15 showed reduced levels of myelin in areas of the brain associated with speaking and listening to others, and areas involved in learning new skills. This finding is a significant advance in our understanding of DLD and these brain differences may explain the poorer language outcomes in this group.

The Gene Therapists Headline at Glastonbury 2022

Rosie Munday writes about her experience taking science to the masses at the Glastonbury Festival.