Paul Swinton

I design and lead work that helps clinicians perform in demanding environments.

Performance by Design

My work spans clinical workflow design, training structures and operational governance. I draw on human factors and systems thinking to examine the gap between how a system is intended to work and what people actually have to do in practice.

Performance by Design brings this work together: understanding how people work, identifying where systems create difficulty, and shaping equipment, processes, education and organisational structures around those realities. The aim is to reduce unnecessary variability and strengthen performance when pressure is highest.

I have always been interested in finding different ways of doing things, and have taken ideas through design and testing into clinical use and education. That work includes considering how a design will be introduced and taught, and what people need to use it in practice.

Alongside my design work, I’ve led education and competency initiatives and contributed to peer-reviewed research.

Background

I have spent more than two decades in emergency care, aeromedical critical care and retrieval, and currently work as a Clinical Team Leader and Flight Paramedic.

I grew up and trained in South Africa before moving to the UK in the early 2000s. I hold an MSc in Trauma Sciences from Queen Mary University of London and the Diploma in Immediate Medical Care from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Outside work, I spend time with my family, snowboard and train my Border Collie.

Conference & media bio

This website is where I develop and share ideas across human factors, systems thinking, design and clinical practice.

Explore insights