Nuffield Health Bournemouth has committed to fund the Adverse Events Research Team at Bournemouth University’s Faculty of Science and Technology until 2027. This six-year research programme will be run by Bournemouth University and The Royal College of Surgeons of England into national and international surgical wellbeing.

The funding, which totals £48,000 over a six-year period, will aide researchers at Bournemouth University who are investigating the impact of adverse events. The teams at Bournemouth University have been pioneering research into national and international surgical wellbeing for several years in collaboration with The Royal College of Surgeons of England, with this new programme being major step forward in transforming the future healthcare workforce.

Adverse events such as surgical errors and complications are an unfortunate yet inevitable part of a surgeon’s life. When something goes wrong in surgery, the impact on surgeons and members of the surgical team can be profound and can directly affect their personal and professional wellbeing, including their health.

Natalie Kemp, health systems director at Nuffield Health Bournemouth, said: “We recognise that within any medical environment the best patient outcome is achieved when support and care needs is available for everyone involved in the patient journey, including consultants and surgeons.”

“By providing financial support to further research in this area, we can help to better understand the care surgeons need after things don’t go to plan and ensure they receive the right support.”

“The wellbeing of our medical professionals is of paramount importance, and we’re proud to help fund nationally reaching research and resource in this area, especially through our neighbours at Bournemouth University.”

Kevin Turner, consultant urological surgeon at Nuffield Health Bournemouth and visiting professor at Bournemouth University, added: “We are immensely grateful for Nuffield Health’s support. Without this funding we couldn’t conduct our research or afford the costs associated with publishing our findings.”

“It’s really important that we continue to learn about how we can best take care of our medical professionals.”

“When things go wrong in surgery, surgeons are greatly affected. While this is true of all healthcare professionals, surgeons are worthy of particular focus.”

“This is because existing supporting mechanisms simply don’t work for surgeons, either because the support isn’t right, or because surgeons choose not to access it.”

This programme represents Nuffield Health’s continued commitment to supporting the wellbeing of all those working in healthcare. Nuffield Health Bournemouth made donations to Bournemouth University’s Adverse Events Research team in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and has signed an agreement to continue providing annual financial support until 2027. The organisation is committed to supporting researchers to develop guidance to help surgeons across the UK prepare for when things go wrong, and to ensure clinical teams are supported when they do.

Find out more about Nuffield Health Bournemouth

Learn more about BU’s research into the impact of adverse events on surgeons