Synopsis

This introductory session aims to frontline healthcare workers with practical design thinking skills that can be applied immediately in everyday clinical practice. Design thinking is a human-centred approach to problem-solving that focuses on understanding the needs, experiences, and challenges of the people who use healthcare services, including patients, families, and staff. Participants will be introduced to the core principles of design thinking, including empathy, problem framing, ideation, prototyping, and testing. The session is designed for healthcare professionals with little or no prior experience in design methods. It will demonstrate how design thinking can strengthen existing approaches to audit, quality improvement, service development, innovation, and research by ensuring that solutions are grounded in the real experiences of those affected by them. Participants will explore practical tools that can be used to gather insights, engage stakeholders, and test ideas before investing significant time and resources. Healthcare is better with design because it places people at the centre of decision-making. By understanding what matters most to patients and staff, healthcare teams can create services that are more effective, accessible, acceptable, and sustainable. Human-centred design helps bridge the gap between identifying problems and implementing meaningful change, ultimately improving patient outcomes, staff experience, and the quality of care delivered across healthcare settings.