Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland - Protecting you since 1902
25 June 2008
A new safety checklist for surgical teams to use in operating theatres has been launched by the WHO as part of a drive to make surgery safer around the world.
The Surgical Safety Checklist (BBC web link) is one outcome of the Safe Surgery Saves Lives initiative – a collaborative project led by the Harvard School of Public Health in which more than 200 national and international medical societies and ministries of health are working together to reduce avoidable deaths and complications in surgical care.
Studies have shown major complications occur in 3% to 16% of inpatient surgical procedures in industrial countries with permanent disability or death rates of about 0.4% to 0.8%. Death rates in developing countries are estimated at 5% to 10 % during major operations. Half of these complications may be preventable.
The checklist identifies a set of surgical safety standards that can be applied in all countries and health settings. Use of the checklist in eight pilot sites has increased the rate of adherence to the standards from 36% to 68%, and in some hospitals to almost 100%. This has resulted in substantial reductions in complications and deaths in the 1000 patients analysed in the pilot studies.
The draft checklist will be finalized for dissemination by the end of 2008 once the evaluation of the eight pilot studies is complete.
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