The ‘supporting surgeon well-being’ research project team based in the Department of Psychology at BU and at the Royal Bournemouth Hospitals NHS Trust has led on the creation of an online toolkit to help surgeons deal with the consequences of an adverse surgical event for their well-being. The toolkit, called SAEFAR (Surgical Adverse Events First Aid Response), was devised in collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) by drawing upon national best-practice guidance and the experiences and views of surgeons. The toolkit will not only help surgeons with managing their well-being but can also guide surgeons’ employers on how best to deal with the aftermath of an adverse surgical event (e.g., an operation that goes wrong due to a medical error) on their staff.
The SAEFAR toolkit was launched at a webinar hosted by the RCS on 3 December that was open to all surgeons in the UK. The launch was delivered by BU Visiting Professor, Mr Kevin Turner, a Consultant Urological Surgeon at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, who is part of the ‘supporting surgeon well-being’ research project team. To find out more about the work of the team, please visit its website at: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/projects/impacts-adverse-events-surgeon-wellbeing