Chris Turner

Why civility matters in a complex world.

Have you ever had a professional interaction that has left you feeling disrespected? Left you feeling distracted and not performing at your best? It turns out that this isn’t just you, it’s all of us.

Most excellent healthcare is dependent on teams, and teams work best when all members feel safe and have a voice. Civility between team members creates that sense of safety and is a key ingredient of great teams. Incivility, on the other hand, robs teams of their potential.

Chris is consultant in emergency medicine at University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire. He is interested in governance and highly performing teams, and this has led him on a journey from being blame and process focused to something completely different, Civility Saves Lives, a campaign that aims to raise awareness of the impact of behaviour on performance. Over the last few years this idea has gained momentum and traction across healthcare and beyond.

The team at Civility Saves Lives have been taken aback by the enthusiasm the message has been taken up with across the NHS. They are proud to be part of the Learning from Excellence movement.