// Ben Freedman, founder of AboutResolution 

Bachelor of Social Work (Hons)

Masters of Conflict Management and Resolution

Professional Member, Resolution Institute

Nationally accredited mediator (NMAS)

 

The AboutResolution journey began when I moved into patient safety and clinical governance after ten years as a mental health practitioner. I quickly noticed that healthcare teams who can communicate, negotiate and problem solve together rarely had systemic safety and governance issues. I also noticed the reverse was true; teams with higher than usual incident rates and who struggled with quality or person centred care usually had poor cohesion and a culture characterised by unresolved conflict.

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Around this time my colleagues and I were developing new ways of thinking about patient safety. We noticed that safety was not about the absence of incidents; it was about the ability of healthcare teams to identify, respond and adapt or flex to meet unexpected conditions or complexity- about getting the right outcomes even though things often go wrong along the way.

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This way of seeing the world, known as 'resilient healthcare' or 'safety two' led to a tectonic shift in my thinking and practice. I completed a Masters in Conflict Management and became a nationally accredited mediator. I noticed that the vast evidence base of best-practice conflict engagement is rarely reflected in the design of health systems, clinical practice or education. I became passionate about negotiation skills education, coaching, mediation for healthcare systems improvement.

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From this I launched AboutResolution, Australia's only conflict management and resolution consultancy dedicated to improving health systems, patient safety and clinical governance.