Lessons health care can learn from aviation

doi:10.1136/bmj.a1777

Published 23 September 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1777
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1777

Letters

Medical error

Lessons health care can learn from aviation

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

When it comes to risk, aviation and health care have more incommon than you might think.¹ For some years, the Medical andDefence Union of Scotland (MDDUS) has been working with Terema,an organisation run by a group of doctors and former BritishAirways pilots that focuses on managing the "human factors"in risk. We are currently hosting a series of risk managementmasterclasses around the UK. The 1989 Kegworth crash, in whichpilots shut down the wrong engine, and the 2004 GMC hearingthat criticised a surgeon for removing the wrong kidney, arejust two case studies cited.

The masterclasses, for any healthcare professional, focus ona single question: what can we in health care learn from ouraviation counterparts? The challenge is to study and adapt theinsights gained by UK aviation in 20 years of experience ofmanaging the human factor in risk to ensure that . . . [Full text of this article]

Jim Rodger, head of professional services department¹

¹ Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, Glasgow G2 4EA

m.hutchinson@mddus.com