Wilful blindness & ethical fading in teams & organisations:
This course is available in mixed formats and is aimed at executive and non-executive directors, senior leaders and managers, and governance leads working in healthcare. It will also be of interest to Transformation and Culture Change Leads, NHS Freedom to Speak Up Guardians, Patient Safety Experts, and trainee and aspiring leaders and managers working or wanting to work in health and care.
Participants on this course will:
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Learn about wilful blindness and ethical fading using real world examples,
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Understand the long-term impact and costs associated with ethical fading,
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Learn the vital role of leaders in setting standards, minimising organisational wilful blindness and preventing ethical fading.
The naturally occurring phenomenon of wilful blindness if left unchecked can lead to a culture developing in teams and organisations in which expected and practiced ethical standards decline to a point where poor quality unsafe care becomes the norm and incidents of avoidable harm become inevitable. A decline in ethical standards creates many adverse outcomes as well as increased levels of patient and service user harm. A harm tolerant culture leads to reduced job satisfaction for staff, lower levels of employee engagement, and an outflow of skilled competent and conscientious clinical and managerial staff. It can also attract inappropriate employees.