Here we are again at the end of the year, facing the usual problems of winter, with the demand for care exceeding what we are able to deliver, the financial squeeze and the continuing challenges of delivering a high quality service, writes Dr. Peter Lachman.
I am an optimist as I know there are solutions for all that we do and for what we want to achieve. For this be successful I am drawing on five lessons from conferences that I attended over the past few months.
In June, Ireland hosted the Human Factors and Patient Safety HEPS conference at Trinity College. It was a great success and is a precursor to the ISQua conference that will be held in Dublin in 2026. A key lesson is that clinicians and managers need to incorporate human factors into everything that they do. A good way to start is by using the SEIPS framework which is a practical way to have human factors as part of all our work, looking at the work system and its components.
I was then at conferences in countries where they do not have the resources we have in Ireland. The lesson from these countries is that one has to do more from less. This means we need to think differently as to how we use the resources we have, both physical and human. We have to consider how we use the funds we have and challenge the old way of delivering care. There will be many potential solutions to delivering high quality care at lower cost, but the most important solution is believing that it can be done by changing our mindset to one of curiosity.
Coproduction of solutions rather than top down directives is the answer, and at all the conferences learning from each other and coproducing with the workforce, along with patients and families, is seen to be the future of healthcare. Coproduction requires a radical reset of the power dynamics on the part of all involved. I have seen this happen in pockets around the country, though usually there is no powershift. You can learn more by listening to the podcasts by Paul Batalden which explore the concepts.
Ireland has a great healthcare workforce that we must value and workforce wellbeing is the first step to quality care. Burnout is the danger. If we do not look after the workforce and just ask them to work harder, while removing the small things that help to make work possible, then we will have a major quality problem.
Every conference had sessions on the emerging promise and challenge of Artificial Intelligence. The consensus is that AI is a tool that we can use to harness the potential of the healthcare workforce and enable us to work in a much smarter way. It will not replace humans, just as the computer and electronic record has not. Rather we can use AI in a practical way. Leaders and managers should now be looking at how this can be done and should work together with clinicians in the future, which is now.
Person centred care is the core of quality care, as is patient safety. If one considers the WHO 2025 Patient Safety Goals I wrote about in my last blog, we need to commit to implementing these goals, the first of which focuses on person centred care. We need to remember the Why we are in healthcare – not for the money but for the real intrinsic joy we have when we deliver high quality care.
So I end the year with hope and optimism. We must believe in each other, unite together and together make a difference in 2026. In summary, look after the workforce, coproduce together with patients, families and those who deliver care. We need to remember that person centred care and patient safety are fundamental, and harnessing the new technologies will help us make a difference.
Wishing you all a wonderful festive season and happy 2026.
