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Improving safety in operating theatres
Richard Branson has said that the NHS can learn lessons from airlines about safety – and however scared some of us might be about flying, the safety record of that industry speaks for itself.
One of the essential airline safety procedures is the pre-take-off check. In a similar way, surgeons and theatre teams have always conducted a series of clinical and technical checks as part of preparing a patient for surgery.
However, incidents still occur. Sometimes, though thankfully rarely, these can be serious. In response to this, the World Health Organisation (WHO) conducted research in eight countries, and has devised a checklist that complements existing processes and focuses them into short concentrated minutes of final checking. This checklist covers three phases of an operation:
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before the induction of anaesthesia
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prior to the incision of the skin
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before the patient leaves the operating room.
In each phase, the operating team completes a set of checks designed to augment safe surgical practice.
The process is very simple, but it works. An international study of nearly 8,000 patients showed that it improved anaesthetic safety, ensured correct site surgery and reduced both surgical-site infections and post-surgical complications.
Five theatres at the John Radcliffe, West Wing, Churchill, Horton General and Women's Centre began piloting the checklist in June 2009 prior to its use in all theatres in September of that year.
Mr Zahir Soonawalla, consultant hepatologist, said "This is more than just a list of safety checks but is crucial to improving communication and team working in theatres. These days, with more movement of staff between theatres, the need to communicate effectively is even greater. This checklist goes a long way to achieving this and should make patient care at the ORH even safer."