About this episode

Professor Helen Higham discusses her work on human factors in anaesthesia and her career advancements, including the Hewitt Lectureship.

In this podcast, recorded at our Anaesthesia 2025 conference, Professor and Consultant Anaesthetist Helen Higham talks to Dr Paul Southall about her work and career improving the the 'complex and adaptive system' of anaesthesia often given by its shorthand, 'human factors'. For this work Helen was awarded the Hewitt Lectureship, given to established senior clinicians, academic experts or pioneers in their fields who have advanced the science or art of anaesthetic practice. Paul and Helen discuss her research interests, which include human factors and simulation-based education in healthcare, and her current projects focused on systems-based approaches to safety in primary care, human factors in low to middle income healthcare settings and the use of virtual reality to train healthcare professionals. Helen gives us an insight into her career and professional life, and bangs the drum for the importance of quality improvement, simulation and team-based learning and how central anaesthesia and its culture is to these practices in medicine. Recorded 20 May 2025 Related information: OxSTAR - Helen Higham Lectureships | The Royal College of Anaesthetists

People in this episode

Host: Dr Paul Southall

Guest: Helen Higham

Topics covered

• human factors
• anaesthesia
• healthcare education
• safety in primary care
• simulation-based education
• quality improvement

Keywords

• human factors
• anaesthesia
• safety
• simulation
• healthcare
• education
• virtual reality

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Royal College of Anaesthetists

Books & works: Hewitt Lectureship

More episodes of Anaesthesia on Air

• A Conversation with Prof Pierre Foex and Prof Helen Higham · April 20, 2026 · 39 min
• Global Emergency & Operative Care: Challenges and Opportunities · March 20, 2026 · 48 min
• Living with MND: Andy’s Story · March 12, 2026 · 44 min
• AI and patient information · November 14, 2025 · 30 min
• Anaesthesia 2025 podcast - Paediatric regional anaesthesia · October 31, 2025 · 26 min
• The experience of becoming a consultant anaesthetist · October 3, 2025 · 50 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Anaesthesia on Air podcast page.