Jon Hindmarsh

We contribute to the field of mixed methods design by proposing a model for data sharing that conceptualizes dataset flexibility as a designable property shaped by cinematic (data collection) and editorial design decisions (data curation). The flexibility of a dataset is constituted by its dimensions (e.g., multidisciplinarity, multimodality, multitemporality, and multilevel) and structure which together condition researchers’ options for data transformation, emergence, and integration. We develop and illustrate the model through a large-scale video collaboratory, where 28 international research teams analyzed a shared, video-based dataset of professional design activity. We reflect on ethical implications, and outline opportunities and challenges for integration within and across research teams.

Objectives: This multicentre real-world evaluation, commissioned by NHS England, evaluated the impact of AI-assisted contouring of organs at risk on contour acceptability, workflows, and staffing. Methods: Data from 626 patients were collected from eight NHS radiotherapy departments. Time metrics from the date of planning CT scan to the start of first treatment were compared between manual and AI-enabled pathways. Acceptability scores for AI-generated contours were also collected. Results: AI-assisted contouring increased potential efficiency in treatment planning compared to manual methods, reducing time for contouring and redistributing workload across different staff types. 100% of manual contour reviews involved clinical oncologists compared to 38% reviewing AI-generated contours. However, workflow design meant that time saving was not observed across the whole treatment planning pathway. AI contours were generally well accepted, with 15.9% requiring no edits and 64.4% only minor edits. This varied by anatomy, with breast having the best acceptability and prostate and head and neck contours requiring more editing. Conclusions: AI contouring tools have the potential to enhance efficiency in radiotherapy treatment planning, creating operational flexibility. Pathway review and revision could unlock further benefits, for example, involving different staff types to address local bottlenecks. Workflow, capacity, and staffing review pre- and post-implementation could increase efficiency gains with AI-assisted contouring. Advances in knowledge: This study evaluated AI contouring tools in complex, real-world systems which differ between departments for generalizable conclusions. It describes the changes in time across the whole treatment planning pathway and the system-level impact of using AI tools to help inform holistic planning.

The study of organisational life has a special place in the history of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (EM/CA). Indeed, some of the seminal studies in the field explored interaction and organisation in legal and medical settings: for instance, Harold Garfinkel’s studies of the deliberations of jurors and the documentary practices of medical practitioners; and Harvey Sacks’ analyses of telephone calls to a suicide prevention centre. Interestingly, the academic discipline of organisation studies has long recognised the contributions of EM/CA and often draws on them to develop new theories and perspectives on work and organisation. However, until very recently, empirical work within EM/CA has had limited uptake within organisation studies. Therefore, in this chapter, we aim to (i) outline a range of intellectual concerns key to organisation studies – notably practice, coordination and sociomateriality – that make ethnomethodological work highly relevant to progress in the field; (ii) spotlight the ways in which recent EM/CA studies, especially video-based studies of work and organising, are contributing to these interests and concerns in significant and distinctive ways; and (iii) chart a series of avenues for further inquiry that might strengthen the mutual development of ethnomethodology and organisation studies.

The contribution of the open-plan office to work and organisation has long been a matter of some debate. Aside from its economic advantages, it is argued that it provides an important opportunity for colleagues to share knowledge and help each other. It is recognised, however, that the presence and participation of others can undermine the ability of personnel to concentrate on individual tasks and subjects work to interruption. This paper seeks to show how these seemingly contradictory issues are matters participants themselves orient to on a daily basis. In particular, it explores the interactional practices in and through which participants address and, to some extent reconcile, these competing demands; initiating brief conversations while seeking to preserve the integrity of the ongoing tasks in which colleagues are engaged. This article focuses on participants progressively establishing momentary encounters that enable them to exchange information and resolve the inevitable difficulties colleagues face in organisations.

Safe and successful surgery depends on effective teamwork between professional groups, each playing their part in a complex division of labour. This article reports the first empirical examination of how introduction of robot-assisted surgery changes the division of labour within surgical teams and impacts teamwork and patient safety. Data collection and analysis was informed by realist principles. Interviews were conducted with surgical teams across nine UK hospitals and, in a multi-site case study across four hospitals, data were collected using a range of methods, including ethnographic observation, video recording and semi-structured interviews. Our findings reveal that as the robot enables the surgeon to do more, the surgical assistant’s role becomes less clearly defined. Robot-assisted surgery also introduces new tasks for the surgical assistant and scrub practitioner, in terms of communicating information to the surgeon. However, the use of robot-assisted surgery does not redistribute work in a uniform way; contextual factors of individual experience and team relationships shape changes to the division of labour. For instance, in some situations, scrub practitioners take on the role of supporting inexperienced surgical assistants. These changes in the division of labour do not persist when team members return to operations that are not robot-assisted. This study contributes to wider literature on divisions of labour in healthcare and how this is impacted by the introduction of new technologies. In particular, we emphasise the need to pay attention to often neglected micro-level contextual factors. This can highlight behaviours that can be promoted to benefit patient care.

Objective To capture stakeholders’ theories concerning how and in what contexts robot-assisted surgery becomes integrated into routine practice. Design A literature review provided tentative theories that were revised through a realist interview study. Literature-based theories were presented to the interviewees, who were asked to describe to what extent and in what ways those theories reflected their experience. Analysis focused on identifying mechanisms through which robot-assisted surgery becomes integrated into practice and contexts in which those mechanisms are triggered. Setting Nine hospitals in England where robot-assisted surgery is used for colorectal operations. Participants Forty-four theatre staff with experience of robot-assisted colorectal surgery, including surgeons, surgical trainees, theatre nurses, operating department practitioners and anaesthetists. Results Interviewees emphasised the importance of support from hospital management, team leaders and surgical colleagues. Training together as a team was seen as beneficial, increasing trust in each other’s knowledge and supporting team bonding, in turn leading to improved teamwork. When first introducing robot-assisted surgery, it is beneficial to have a handpicked dedicated robotic team who are able to quickly gain experience and confidence. A suitably sized operating theatre can reduce operation duration and the risk of de-sterilisation. Motivation among team members to persist with robot-assisted surgery can be achieved without involvement in the initial decision to purchase a robot, but training that enables team members to feel confident as they take on the new tasks is essential. Conclusions We captured accounts of how robot-assisted surgery has been introduced into a range of hospitals. Using a realist approach, we were also able to capture perceptions of the factors that support and constrain the integration of robot-assisted surgery into routine practice. We have translated these into recommendations that can inform future implementations of robot-assisted surgery.

This article introduces an interactional perspective to the analysis of organizational space. The study is based on the analysis of over 100 hours of video recordings of guided tours undertaken within two sites (an historic house and a world-famous museum), coupled with interviews and field observations. The analysis is informed by ethnomethodology and conversation analysis in order to focus on the everyday organization of these tours, and the lived experience of inhabiting museum spaces. We use an interactional lens to unpack the ‘embodied spatial practices’ critical to the work of tour guides and their audiences, which reveals how the sense and significance of the workspace emerges moment to moment, and in relation to the ongoing work at hand. As a result, for those with an interest in organizational space, the article introduces a novel perspective, and methods, to highlight the dynamic and interactional production of workspaces. Additionally, for those with an interest in practice, the article demonstrates the fundamental import of taking spatial arrangements seriously when analysing the organization of work.

This article considers the application of video-based research to address methodological challenges for organizational scholars concerned with the sociomaterial foundations to work practice. In particular the claim that “all practices are always sociomaterial” raises a “problem of relevance”—that is, on what grounds can we select material to include in the analytic account when there is a vast array of material in each setting? Furthermore, how can we grasp the sociality of material objects that are often taken for granted and that drift in and out of view? We address these methodological questions drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, and by making use of video recordings of everyday work and organizing. We demonstrate the approach with data from two service settings and explore the analysis both of single cases and collections. To conclude, the article considers the distinctive contributions that these video-based studies have for our understanding of sociomateriality and organizational practice more generally.

Robotic surgery offers many potential benefits for patients. While an increasing number of healthcare providers are purchasing surgical robots, there are reports that the technology is failing to be introduced into routine practice. Additionally, in robotic surgery, the surgeon is physically separated from the patient and the rest of the team, with the potential to negatively impact teamwork in the operating theatre. The aim of this study is to ascertain: how and under what circumstances robotic surgery is effectively introduced into routine practice; and how and under what circumstances robotic surgery impacts teamwork, communication and decision making, and subsequent patient outcomes.