WHO Releases Checklist for Safer Surgery

A new safety checklist for surgical procedures developed by the World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland) has won the endorsement of nearly 250 health organizations from over 40 countries.

The new surgical safety checklist, which offers simple step-by-step guidelines that surgical teams should follow before and after any operation to ensure patient safety, was developed by the WHO World Alliance for Patient Safety, based on a concept used in the aviation industry, which has used pre-flight checklists effectively to reduce accidents resulting from human error. The Surgical Safety Checklist divides surgery into three phases: ‘Sign in'- before anesthesia is administered; ‘Time Out' - before skin incision; and ‘Sign Out' - before the patient leaves the operating room (OR). WHO recommends that a single checklist coordinator take responsibility for confirming that each member of the surgical team has completed his or her required tasks before the operation can begin. Among the issues covered in the checklist are:

• The patient's identity and the exact surgical site
• The procedure to be performed
• Known patient allergies
• Antibiotics administration within 60 minutes of the operation
• Accounting for all instruments, sponges, and needles used
• Labeling of specimens
• Plans for postoperative care

"There are 7 million deaths and disabilities due to complications of surgery every year around the world; half of these could be avoided by following basic standards of care,” said WHO director-general Dr. Margaret Chan, M.D., of the People's Republic of China. "We must also address the huge unmet need for surgery in low-income countries; the need for surgery is on the rise in the developing world because of the rise in chronic diseases.”

The endorsements for the surgical safety checklist came from medical and professional associations, government health agencies, hospitals, and patient advocacy groups in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia, from countries representing some 75% of the world's population. The short-term goal of the WHO is to have the checklist in use in 2,500 hospitals by the end of 2009. The complete surgical checklist is available online.


Related Links:
World Health Organization
Surgical Checklist