Karim plays a key role in making sure Semble is a safe and reliable platform for healthcare professionals. By blending his clinical expertise with product development, Karim carefully reviews each feature to identify and manage any potential risks to patient safety. His work ensures that all of Semble’s tools are not only clinically robust but also simple and intuitive for our users. Thanks to Karim, you can trust that Semble always puts patient safety and user experience first.
When I first trained as a GP, patient safety wasn’t something I consciously thought about every day. It was simply embedded in the work: first, do no harm. Every decision I made, whether prescribing medication, recommending follow-ups or reassuring a worried patient, was guided by the idea that my actions should never put a patient at risk.
Years later, stepping into the role of Clinical Safety Officer, including at Semble, gave me a new perspective. Suddenly, I wasn’t just responsible for the safety of one patient sitting in front of me, but potentially thousands of people using healthcare technology at scale. That shift has taught me a lot about what clinical safety really means in practice.
Here are six lessons I’ve learned along the way.
My years as a GP still shape the way I approach clinical safety decisions today – it’s brought a lot of empathy to the way I work. I know what it’s like to explain lab results to a worried patient, or to see how jargon can create fear. That lived experience helps me spot risks that aren’t obvious on paper. It also reminds me that safety isn’t abstract; it’s about real people, with real concerns, trying to navigate their health.
As a GP, every decision I made affected one patient, and I would see the outcome quickly. In clinical safety for a healthtech company, the scale is very different. A single design choice in technology can affect thousands, even millions, of patients in one go. That means the consequences, good or bad, can unfold much faster and at much greater scale. It requires thinking several steps ahead, anticipating how one small change could ripple through an entire system of care.
One of the biggest risks I’ve seen both in practice and in technology, is how patients receive information. In a consultation room, I could tell instantly if a patient didn’t understand my advice and make time to explain again. With technology, a patient might receive test results or instructions alone, without context. Misunderstanding those results can have serious consequences.
That’s why clarity matters. Using plain language, avoiding jargon, explaining why something is important (not just what to do), and giving patients the chance to ask questions can make the difference between safe care and harm. It’s not only about what we tell patients, but how we ensure they’ve understood and feel supported.
The right systems can make this easier. Ambient scribes mean clinician aren’t tied up in note-taking and can focus fully on the patient in front of them, listening, asking about worries and explaining next steps. Follow-up messaging presents an opportunity to share additional educational materials and keeps the door open for patients to return with questions, turning communication into an ongoing conversation rather than a one-off interaction.
And when information is stored clearly in a patient portal, patients can revisit results and documents in their own time, building confidence and a deeper understanding of their health. Clear communication isn’t just a courtesy. It’s a cornerstone of patient safety.
No one person can anticipate every possible risk. The most effective safety reviews happen when people from different backgrounds sit around the same table: doctors, nurses, reception staff, administrators, even patients. Each person notices risks that others might miss. Building safety into healthcare isn’t about one expert, it’s about collective thinking.
We know clinics are busy, but carving out space for regular reviews of processes with every department involved, even when nothing has gone wrong, can help teams spot vulnerabilities early. Combine that with a culture where staff feel comfortable raising concerns, and you create foresight instead of firefighting.
The key to making this work is seeing clinical safety as more than drugs, devices or your tech. It’s about culture. When every member of a healthcare team feels empowered to speak up, share concerns, and suggest improvements, the whole system becomes safer. Creating that culture is just as vital as following any checklist.
Feedback, whether it’s a casual comment, a question or even a complaint, is often the first sign of a safety gap. Don’t ignore these: patients see things from angles professionals can’t. You can capture feedback from patients during appointments if comfortable. You could also provide links in your follow-up comms that allow them to send feedback straight to your clinic or via review sites such as Doctify. Taking their feedback seriously can uncover risks that no process or checklist would have caught.
Clinical safety will always place a natural brake on innovation, just as aviation safety slows down aircraft development. That’s not a weakness; it’s a strength. The safest innovations are the ones that stand the test of rigorous checks. And increasingly, technology is helping generate the evidence for safety faster, so that progress and protection can go hand in hand.
If I had to sum up my approach to clinical safety in one sentence, it would be this: be proactive and collective, not just reactive. Safety is never the responsibility of one person or one team, it’s a shared commitment across everyone in healthcare.
On Patient Safety Day, it’s worth remembering that the safest systems are the ones built on listening, collaboration, foresight and empathy. That’s how we move steadily, if not always quickly, towards safer, better care for everyone.