“All of the speakers today were incredibly enthusiastic and inspiring, the concrete examples used made it clear this can be used in real practice... I was particularly impressed by how the module leads remembered everyoneʼs name after just one day."

Why

Healthcare professionals are often responsible for improving safety without having been formally taught how to understand and redesign the systems that produce risk. 

Oxford’s new part-time PGCert and PGDip in Health Systems Safety will equip professionals to diagnose safety problems, design safer systems and implement sustainable change in their own organisations. 

Who

The programme is part-time and designed for working professionals studying alongside demanding clinical, operational or related roles, including: 

• Doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals  

• Clinical and operational managers  

• Patient safety, quality, risk and governance leads  

• Clinical engineers, data scientists and digital safety professionals  

• Professionals working in regulation, commissioning or health policy 

What

A part-time postgraduate programme built around six core areas: 

PGCert + PGDip 

• Human factors and ergonomics  

• Implementation science  

• Systems design  

PGDip only 

• Safety research methods  

• Simulation for systems safety  

• AI and emerging technologies in healthcare 

You will leave the programme with: 

• The ability to identify why healthcare systems succeed or fail. 

• The confidence to redesign complex healthcare systems for safer, higher-quality care. 

• Practical expertise in human factors, implementation science, systems thinking and emerging technologies. 

• The skills to lead meaningful organisational change, even without formal authority. 

• A toolkit for making better use of data to improve safety and performance. 

• The ability to bring clinicians, managers, engineers and technology specialists together around a shared improvement goal. 

• Experience communicating complex ideas to those who can act on them, from frontline teams to health system leaders. 

• A systems mindset that enables you to improve care for patients while supporting the wellbeing of the workforce. 

How

Each module combines remote preparation, an intensive week in Oxford and supported post-module study and assessment.