WHO Safe Surgery Checklist reduces deaths and surgery complications
The World Health Organisation recently announced that trials in eight countries has demonstrated that use of a simple surgical checklist during major operations can lower the incidence of deaths and complications following surgery by one third.
The WHO Safe Surgery Checklist was developed in a highly collaborative international process with a strong focus on teamwork and communication in the operating room; the importance of anaesthesia in surgical safety was reflected by the establishment of a Safe Anaesthesia group as one of four groups in this process.
As part of their work this group has revised the International Standards for a Safe Practice of Anaesthesia (http://www.anaesthesiologists.org/en/latest/2008-international-standards-for-a-safe-practice-of-anaesthesia.html), endorsed by the WFSA at Cape Town in 2008.
The impact of the WHO Safe Surgery Checklist was investigated in eight sites world wide. Auckland was one of two participating centres in the Western Pacific Region, with Alan Merry as local principle investigator (a.merry@auckland.ac.nz). Since the study, Auckland City Hospital has adopted the use of a locally modified version of the Checklist for use in all its operating rooms.
To view the media release, please click here.
