Keeping my Dad alive is a panoply of machines, dutifully coordinated by the clinical knowledge spread across his care team. In commenting on how remarkable the system is that makes this possible, I over-heard ‘some clever person designed all this’.

This speaks to the lone genius myth that the media likes to propagate, but I don’t believe is close to the truth. A system this complex is the work of many. It’s the product of many specialisms coming together in support of a common goal. Iterative improvement and interoperability are the bedrock on which critical care is delivered.

There are lots of clever people making an enormous difference, every day. There isn’t merely ‘some clever person’ behind all the magic. Teams enable and enhance the occasional genius and too many key links in the chain go unnoticed or under-appreciated.