Human factors
Return to Practice Is Not a Straight Line
A difficult shift can overshadow weeks of rebuilding. How exposure, support and context help us read a clinician’s return more fairly.
Insights
Clinical systems under pressure
Writing and conversations on clinical performance, human factors, systems design and the realities of frontline care.
How systems shape clinical work
Across emergency care, retrieval, training and governance, I keep returning to the same question: how do the conditions around clinicians help them do the work—or make it harder?
These articles explore that question through practical examples of preparation, equipment layout, supported practice and the ways teams adapt.
From the journal
Clinical systems, practice and performance
Articles by Paul Swinton on preparation, supported practice and designing around how clinical work is actually done.
Systems design
When Adaptation Becomes the Safety Strategy
Teams keep care moving by working around problems. What becomes harder to see when the system depends on that extra effort?
Design insight
The fog of innovation
An early idea rarely arrives fully formed. How do we give it room to develop, then test it honestly in practice?
Human factors
Performance Under Pressure Is Designed, Not Accidental
How information, interfaces and equipment shape cognitive load and decision-making.
Design insight
Designing Healthcare Around Human Performance
Where workflow, cognition and environment intersect.
Systems design
Connecting Equipment to Clinical Decision-Making
The next step beyond equipment standardisation.
Clinical workflow
Why Standardised Setups Improve Performance
How layout and preparation make performance more reliable and reproducible.
Airway management
Airway Decontamination Under Pressure
Blood, vomit and repeated attempts can rapidly turn a difficult airway into a failed first pass. Suction strategy needs to be part of the airway plan, not an afterthought.
Podcast appearances
Conversations on clinical systems and design
In these interviews, I discuss equipment layout, cognitive load and the preparation that supports clinical work under pressure.
Designing for Crisis
Human-centred design, cognitive load and how systems can better support clinical performance under pressure.
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Designing Systems for RSI Performance
A discussion of preparation, equipment layout and the work that supports rapid sequence induction (RSI).
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Designing Critical Airway Systems
A conversation with Minh Le Cong on structured airway management, cognition and designing systems for airway performance.
Listen on Apple Podcasts