Patient safety during surgery

Paul Barach trained as an anaesthetist and intensive care specialist at Harvard Medical School and has a strong international track record in his research on making health care safer. He now works in Australia and talked with Norman Swan on the ABC Health Report about his presentation at the Women's and Children's Hospital Conference. Paul said, "Health care is not designed for teams. We select, we reward, we incentivise people to work as individuals and then we throw them together in teams. And so unless and until we change the incentive structure and give them the feedback as a team, it's very difficult for them to achieve what I believe can be more sustainable improved results."
Paul believes if you can get the staff to think of themselves as a team and allocate time for debriefing after difficult procedures, "then they're actually able to reflect on their work, learn on the work and grow a greater respect for their colleagues."
To read the transcript of this very interesting interview click here.