In this episode, Fran Ives talks with Dr Adrian Plunkett, Consultant Paediatric Intensivist at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and founder of Learning from Excellence (LFE). Adrian shares the origins of LFE, inspired by his own experience as a patient, and explains how positive feedback can transform healthcare culture and performance. https://learningfromexcellence.com

In this episode, Fran Ives talks with Dan Hodgkiss from Health Innovation West Midlands. Dan shares his journey with Appreciative Inquiry (AI), from its roots in local authority work to transforming safety culture in healthcare and offers practical tips for creating positive, strength-based approaches to improvement.

• Appreciating Health and Care
• Learning from Excellence

In this episode, host Fran Ives talks with Dr Chris Turner, Emergency Medicine Consultant at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire and co-founder of Civility Saves Lives. Chris shares the story behind the movement, the evidence linking behaviour to performance, and why creating respectful environments is critical for patient safety and team effectiveness.

From the origins of Civility Saves Lives to the impact of incivility on cognitive bandwidth, Chris explores how culture, trust, and even banter shape team dynamics. We also discuss practical steps leaders can take to foster civility and why curiosity is a superpower in complex healthcare systems.

In series 3, we explore how Human Factors links with Appreciative Inquiry and civility. In this episode, Katy Fisher, Head of Patient Safety and Clinical Effectiveness at a Mental Health Trust shares her journey from clinical governance into the transformative world of Appreciative Inquiry (AI). She discusses how AI reshaped her mindset, influenced her leadership style, and helped her embed positivity and strength-based learning into healthcare structures traditionally focused on deficits.

• Appreciative Inquiry (AI) – Developed by David Cooperrider; foundational texts include Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change.

• Appreciating Health and Care – Includes the Praise Project and examples of AI in clinical settings.
• Learning from Excellence – A movement and methodology for reporting and learning from positive clinical events.

• Civility Saves Lives – Focuses on the impact of civility on healthcare outcomes.
• PSIRF (Patient Safety Incident Response Framework) – NHS initiative integrating human factors and systems thinking.

• Caring Corner – Katy Fisher’s podcast exploring AI stories in healthcare.

Evi Carman and Guilia Miles work together as Human Factors Specialists at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. They are one of the very few NHS Trusts in the UK to have more than one HF Specialist. They talk about the work they get involved in, the role of HF Fellows and their plans for the future.

In this episode, I welcome back Lauren Morgan who is also joined by Joe McCloud and Pete Jeffries from Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust. They give an honest account of the long road to creating an HF post within the Trust including chance conversations, patience and persistence! They were finally successful and welcomed Sharon Beza into post - Sharon sadly couldn't join us for the podcast recording but her work in the Trust is recognised during the episode!

Lauren Morgan nearly had a career in aeronautical engineering, however, a chance conversation led her into Human Factors. The passion that Lauren has for HF is clear as she talks about her work in academia, NHS organisations and running her own consultancy business.

Laura Pickup started life as a Physiotherapist before discovering the world of Human Factors. Following a PhD in HF, Laura entered the world of rail where she gained a number of valuable years of experience before returning to healthcare.

Resources that Laura mentions include:

Human Factors Methods A Practical Guide for Engineering and Design By ⁠Neville A. Stanton⁠, ⁠et al

https://www.safemodeproject.eu/EhuridGuidedPaths.aspx