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What do you do in your spare time, when you've had a career as a cardio-thoracic surgeon and then train as a commercial airline pilot and your current full time job is transporting passengers across the Atlantic on an Airbus A330 for Aer Lingus - You write a book of course. Airline Pilot Niall Downey lives just outside Newry and his new book 'Oops! Why Things Go Wrong' is published today.
‘I am thirty miles south of London’s Gatwick Airport, the world’s busiest single-runway airport, when one of the seven Flight Control computers in my Airbus A320 aircraft fails . . . ’
So begins this pioneering book by Downey where he uses his expertise in medicine and aviation to explore the critical issue of managing human error. With further examples from business, politics, sport, technology, education and other fields, Downey makes a powerful case that by following some clear guidelines any organisation can greatly reduce the incidence and impact of making serious mistakes.
While acknowledging that in our fast-paced world getting things wrong is impossible to avoid completely, Downey offers a strategy based on current best practice that can make a massive difference. He concludes with an aviation-style Safety Management System that can be hugely helpful in preventing avoidable catastrophes from occurring.
Capt. Niall Downey FRCSI attended St. Columb’s College in Derry and qualified as a doctor from Trinity College, Dublin. After twelve years of medical training, Niall decided to change course and retrained as an airline pilot with Aer Lingus, initially combining aviation with medicine by working as an Accident & Emergency doctor before focusing full-time on aviation. Niall provides courses and speaks at major conferences on the topic of error management, in particular how it relates to the healthcare industry.
An acknowledged expert in error management, Niall Downey advises governments, major corporations and the health industry on how to develop a systemic approach to controlling for human imperfection. Arguing that prevention is far preferable to denying responsibility after the fact, he gave an influential TEDx talk outlining how healthcare could use aviation's experience to reduce tragic outcomes and improve patient safety.
Praise for Oops! Why Things Go Wrong
From Doctors to Pilots to other Authors Captain Niall Downey's book is certainly getting noticed. Here are just some of the reviews:
‘Oops! Why Things Go Wrong is essential reading for every person who wants to improve their leadership and teamwork skills, be resilient and survive crises. Downey’s unique knowledge from years of experience commanding commercial airline cockpits and surgeries puts you into the Captain’s seat to maximise safety, quality and save lives.’ – Captain Richard de Crespigny, Retired Airbus A380 Captain at Qantas author of QF32
‘Niall takes the reader on a fascinating journey through a condition we all suffer from – human error. From sport and surgery to aviation and agriculture, this book details both the unfortunate and the catastrophic, why error happens and, most importantly, what we can do about it.’ – Mark Gallagher, author of The Business of Winning: Strategic Success from the Formula One Track to the Boardroom
‘Human connections are essential to delivering person-centred care and sometimes the care environment, culture or the way we do things creates harm. In healthcare this can be catastrophic. This book provides safety critical insights and methods to help eliminate avoidable harm. A must read for healthcare teams.’ – Professor Charlotte McArdle, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, NHS UK.
‘I have known Niall for many decades … and would like to … recommend that everyone should read this book.’ – Fellow Emeritus Professor Moira O’Brien, Trinity College Dublin, and Founder and President of the Irish Osteoporosis Society.
‘I’ve made mistakes, every doctor will make mistakes, but how can we limit them? Niall Downey’s unique perspective as both pilot and doctor has enabled him to apply the lessons learned by the airline industry to modern medicine. This book should be mandatory reading for everyone with an interest in healthcare, i.e. everyone.’– Dr Liam Farrell, author of Are You the F**king Doctor?
‘Trainee to Captain ... from inside the chest with hands on the heart, to inside the cockpit with hands on the side-stick, Niall Downey offers unique insights into mitigation of errors and human factors. We need this in healthcare now.’ – Professor David J. O’Regan, Retired Consultant Cardio-Thoracic Surgeon
‘In this book, Niall Downey takes a look at error through multiple lenses: from aviation to sport, justice to politics. As a surgeon-turned-pilot, Downey has skin in the game and he casts his net wide to find answers for why things go wrong. – Dr Steven Shorrock, Chartered Human Factors Specialist, Editor in Chief of Hindsight magazine, Honorary Clinical Tutor at the University of Edinburgh
‘Captain Niall Downey originally qualified in medicine, training in cardiothoracic surgery, before deciding to change career for commercial aviation. In this great new book, Niall shares his unique expertise and insight from both professions to help healthcare colleagues learn how to reduce their chance of medical error. – Professor Peter Brennan, Consultant Oral & Maxillo-Facial Surgeon.
'Niall Downey is perhaps the only person in the world who could write this important new book . . . an owner's manual on how to work, live and play safer by knowing how and why errors happen.’ – Dr Brian Goldman, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, and author of The Secret Language of Doctors.
You can buy the book at theliffeypress.com
