MedLed appoints Dr Patrick Waterson as Human Factors Specialist

MedLed, a specialist provider of High Performance Roadmaps™, targeted training and consultancy that enhances the performance of people, teams and systems in the UK healthcare industry has appointed Dr Patrick Waterson PhD, CErgHf, CPsychol from Loughborough University as a Non-Executive Director.

An experienced Chartered Ergonomist, Chartered Psychologist and lecturer in Human Factors, Patrick will support MedLed’s leadership team. He will also deliver client training, drawing on his extensive experience in adult education and postgraduate teaching in Human Factors and Ergonomics for patient safety.

Since launching in 2017, MedLed has been introducing a new approach to solving performance issues in healthcare organisations

Patrick is a Fellow of the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, a Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He has a BSc in Psychology (First Class) from Lancaster University, an MSc in Knowledge-Based Systems from Sussex University and a PhD in in Human Factors from Nottingham University. In 2014 he was awarded the William Floyd Medal from the UK Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors for outstanding contribution to the field of Human Factors.

Since launching in 2017, MedLed has been introducing a new approach to solving performance issues in healthcare organisations, applying its principles of human factors and performance science. It uses evidence-based methodologies designed specifically for the challenges faced by the healthcare industry and applies experiences and learning from other risk industries and high performance environments.

This approach results in measurable, embedded and sustainable improvements in patient safety, morale and staff retention and Yeovil District Hospital, The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals, Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Western Health and Social Care Trust are just some clients how have benefitted from working with Medled.

Dr. Waterson says,

It’s an exciting time to be joining MedLed. I have been impressed by its range of services, its team of dynamic, experienced and creative people, and the company’s focus on performance. I am looking forward to supporting and advising them. Human Factors is really taking off in healthcare and I will also be working with MedLed to apply this approach in healthcare organisations to help improve and safety and delivery of care for patients.

Ben Tipney, Founder and Managing Director of MedLed says

We’re incredibly privileged to have Patrick’s expert input as part of our Leadership Team. He will be advising us on the latest ideas, methods and tools being applied to human factors and healthcare. His expertise will be hugely beneficial to clients and he will work with them to embed the principles of Human Factors and Performance Science to elicit the best from their systems, people and teams.

There isn’t a one size fits all solution to improving complex healthcare organisations. Every organisation is different and our holistic approach to assessing all the factors that impact people and performance including its resources, leadership, communication, job design, work culture, risks, as well as systems and processes, is helping many organisations make measurable performance improvements in terms of their delivery of care and patient safety.

Patrick is also Editor-in-Chief for ‘Policy and Practice in Health and Safety’ (the official journal of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, IOSH), an Associate Editor for BMC Medical Informatics and Decision-Making and serves on the editorial boards of Applied Ergonomics, Cognition, Technology and Work, IIE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Safety Science. He has authored hundreds of research papers on Patient Safety and Healthcare Ergonomics and provides that vital link between academic research and front-line practice so often missing in consultancies and training providers.