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WELCOME TO CIVILITY SAVES LIVES; helping understand the impact of rudeness on team performance, patient care and outcomes.
Rudeness in healthcare has widespread impacts.
Civility Saves Lives isn't just a phrase - it's a way to understand each other better, address workplace culture, improve individual and team performance, and in doing so, improve patient care.
We are a movement, a collective of like minded individuals motivated to make a change. If this sounds like you and you want to know more, get in touch, talk to us, even come join us!
What Is Civility Saves Lives?
A Movement Backed by Research and Built by Healthcare Professionals
Civility Saves Lives is a clinician-led initiative that raises awareness of the profound impact that behaviour, including rudeness has on performance, wellbeing, and patient safety within a healthcare setting. We represent a community of people who have decided it is time to make a positive change, by bringing awareness through research and experience, and evidence backed processes to drive the shift in work place culture.
Our message is simple: how we treat each other at work matters. Even small acts of incivility can reduce diagnostic accuracy, worsen outcomes, and drive staff away. But respectful, compassionate communication creates safer, more effective teams.
✅ Evidence-based
✅ NHS-aligned
✅ Delivered by our experienced team with national reach
Who are we here to help?
Perhaps this is you:
If any of these seem accurate, you are not alone. we fully believe the Civility Message is vital and relevant to a multitude of situations.
Consider this your call to arms. Let us see what would best help; whether it's us having a conversation with you to guide you, welcoming you in to our growing global CSL community, or seeing if we can offer sessions that would benefit you or your organisation.
Are you looking to implement change in your place of work and have found us here at Civility Saves Lives? If you feel passionately about bringing the civility message to your organisation, but don't know where to start, worry not, explore the approaches below that might be suitable and have a chat with one of the team to advise how to proceed! We can advise you directly, empower you to take on the Civility message yourself, or if you want us to help further, then explore the below options:
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delivery
All sessions and training can be delivered virtually or in person
duration
Sessions can be completely adaptable from single hour talks to half-day workshops
CONTENT
Content can be tailored to fit the specific needs of your organisation or event. We will meet with you virtually to discuss all options upon request.
experience
We have a wide range of content all with a key core message; Civility Saves Lives. Experience the power and importance of our talks.
The evidence is clear: incivility doesn’t just hurt feelings — it affects patient safety, staff wellbeing, and team performance.
The Impact of Incivility – What the Research Shows
🔹 Christine Porath’s research shows that rudeness at work can lead to:
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61% reduction in cognitive ability of the recipient of the rudeness
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20% reduction in cognitive ability of all onlookers
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Reduced time and commitment to the organisation
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50% less willing as a team to work together
(Source: Porath & Pearson, 2013–2016, HBR / Civility at Work studies)
We are therefore less able to do our jobs as well as individuals or as a team!
🔹 Riskin & Erez (2015) conducted a landmark study in neonatal intensive care simulations, where medical teams exposed to a mildly rude comment from an expert showed:
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Around a 20% drop in diagnostic and procedural performance
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Up to 50% reduction in key behaviours like information sharing and help-seeking
This shows that even subtle incivility can directly compromise clinical effectiveness.
We are therefore less able to work together in a healthcare setting
The Real-World Effects of Rudeness in Healthcare:
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📉 Increased medical errors
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💬 Breakdowns in communication
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🧯 Higher burnout and staff turnover
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🙅♀️ Decreased psychological safety
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😐 Reduced patient satisfaction
Our Message: Civility Isn’t Optional — It’s Clinical
At Civility Saves Lives, we help healthcare professionals and leaders recognise these patterns and build cultures where:
✅ Civility is modelled
✅ Poor behaviour is addressed early
✅ Patient care remains central
Find Out More About the Civility Message Here
Civil work environments matter because they reduce errors, reduce stress and foster excellence.
Almost all excellence in 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 robs teams of their potential.
Check out our LinkedIn pages
Incivility has been shown to reduce team functioning, clinical decision making and patient outcomes.
We love infographics, check out the Infographics page for more!
