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. METHODS: Human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) experts and social scientists conducted 325 hours of observations and 23 interviews in three maternity units in the UK, focusing on how CTG tasks were undertaken, the influences on this work and the cultural and organisational features of work settings. HF/E analysis was based on the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety 2.0 model. Social science analysis was based on the constant comparative method. RESULTS: CTG monitoring can be understood as a complex sociotechnical activity, with tasks, people, tools and technology, and organisational and external factors all combining to affect safety. Fetal heart rate patterns need to be recorded and interpreted correctly. Systems are also required for seeking the opinions of others, determining whether the situation warrants concern, escalating concerns and mobilising response. These processes may be inadequately designed or function suboptimally, and may be further complicated by staffing issues, equipment and ergonomics issues, and competing and frequently changing clinical guidelines. Practice may also be affected by variable standards and workflows, variations in clinical competence, teamwork and situation awareness, and the ability to communicate concerns freely. CONCLUSIONS: CTG monitoring is an inherently collective and sociotechnical practice. Improving it will require accounting for complex system interdependencies, rather than focusing solely on discrete factors such as individual technical proficiency in interpreting traces.

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. This study aims to explore the integration of HFE systemic accident analysis into current practice. The study compares the processes and outputs of a current practice RCA-based incident analysis and a Systems Theoretic Accident Modelling and Processes (STAMP) analysis on the same medication error incident. The STAMP analysis was undertaken by two HFE researchers with the participation of twenty-one healthcare stakeholders. The STAMP-based approach guided healthcare stakeholders towards consideration of system design issues and remedial actions, going beyond the individual-based remedial actions proposed by the RCA. The study offers insights into how HFE can be integrated into current practice.

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. This study used action research to investigate what processes and methods were needed to successfully employ a participatory systems approach. Three participatory workshops planned and facilitated by method experts were held with 30 representative stakeholders. Various methods were used with them and evaluated through an audit of workshop outputs and a qualitative questionnaire. Findings on the method application and participation are presented and methodological challenges are discussed with reference to further research. Practitioner Summary: This study provides practical insights on how to apply a participatory systems approach to complex health care service design. Various template-based methods for systems thinking and risk-based thinking were efficiently and effectively applied with stakeholders.