Team psychological safety describes team members’ shared belief that they can take interpersonal risks, by speaking up, expressing ideas, voicing concerns and admitting mistakes, without fearing negative repercussions (Edmondson, 1999).
Creating an environment that empowers staff to speak up is integral to transforming organisational culture (National Guardians Office, 2023); staff will only begin to speak on injustices and equity when the foundation for psychological safety is in place (McCoy, 2024).
Within healthcare organisations, psychological safety is associated with multiple benefits, including effective collaboration, creativity, enhanced performance and reduced turnover intention (Grailey et al., 2021; Kessel et al., 2012; Yanchus et al., 2015). It is also associated with improved staff well-being and job satisfaction (de Lisser et al., 2024; Mitterer & Mitterer, 2023).
This concept is particularly important in ‘high stakes’ environments, such as healthcare and aviation (Newman et al., 2017). Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) cross these sectors in providing enhanced prehospital care and air transport to critically ill and injured patients. Despite the high stakes nature of their work, there is a lack of evidence regarding psychological safety within HEMS clinical teams.
HEMS work closely with ground ambulance services in delivering prehospital care. A lack of psychological safety with regard to speaking up has been identified as a pervasive problem in ambulance services in England (National Guardian’s Office, 2023). Initial evidence suggests that certain groups within the ambulance service experience greater barriers to speaking up, including paramedics and those with long-term health conditions.
Broader literature on healthcare teams has indicated that women are less likely to ask, offer opinions or speak up (O’Donovan & McAuliffe, 2020). It is not known whether similar issues are experienced within HEMS; however, recent research identified features of culture presenting particular challenges for women (Thomas-Mourne, 2024).
The aim of this project is to explore psychological safety in UK HEMS clinical teams, and to compare experiences between men and women.
