A safety checklist for transoesophageal echocardiography from the British Society of Echocardiography and the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists

The World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the Surgical Safety Checklist in 2008. The introduction of this checklist resulted in a significant reduction in the incidence of complications and death in patients undergoing surgery. Consequently, the WHO Surgical Safety checklist is recommended for use by the National Patient Safety Agency for all patients undergoing surgery. However, many invasive or interventional procedures occur outside the theatre setting and there are increasing requirements for a safety checklist to be used prior to such procedures. Transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) is an invasive procedure and although generally considered to be safe, it carries the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening complications. Strict adherence to a safety checklist may reduce the rate of significant complications during TOE. However, the standard WHO Surgical Safety Checklist is not designed for procedures outside the theatre environment and therefore this document is designed to be a procedure-specific safety checklist for TOE. It has been endorsed for use by the British Society of Echocardiography and the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists.

Download Full-text

WHO cares? Safety checklists in echocardiography

Echo Research and Practice ◽

10.1530/erp-15-0038 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. E9-E12 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Clare Quarterman ◽

Nick Fletcher ◽

Vishal Sharma

Keyword(s):

Medical Errors ◽

Financial Burden ◽

Transoesophageal Echocardiography ◽

World Health Organisation ◽

World Health ◽

British Society ◽

Routine Practice ◽

Patient Morbidity ◽

Life Threatening ◽

Surgical Setting

The number of potentially preventable medical errors that occur has been steadily increasing. These are a significant cause of patient morbidity, can lead to life-threatening complications and may result in a significant financial burden on health care. Effective communication and team working reduce errors and serious incidents. In particular the implementation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Safe Surgery Checklist has been shown to reduce in-hospital mortality, postoperative complications and the incidence of surgical site infection. However an increasing number of complex medical procedures and interventions are being performed outside of the theatre environment. The lessons learnt from the surgical setting are relevant to other procedures performed in other areas. For the echocardiographer, transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) is one such procedure in which there is the potential for medical errors that may result in patient harm. This risk is increased if patient sedation is being administered. The British Society of Echocardiography and the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists have developed a procedure specific checklist to facilitate the use of checklists into routine practice. In this article we discuss the evolution of the WHO safety checklist and explore its relevance to TOE.

Download Full-text

Awareness and practice on the use of World Health Organisation surgical safety checklist among operating room personnel in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania and Dartmouth, United States

Annals of Global Health ◽

10.1016/j.aogh.2016.04.331 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 82 (3) ◽

pp. 487

Author(s):

G. Ngaiza ◽

M. Mchemebe ◽

E. Ridgway ◽

R. Freeman

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Operating Room ◽

World Health Organisation ◽

Dar Es Salaam ◽

World Health ◽

Operating Room Personnel ◽

Surgical Safety Checklist ◽

Surgical Safety

Download Full-text

A1 The World Health Organisation Surgical Safety Checklist

Basic Techniques in Pediatric Surgery ◽

10.1007/978-3-642-20641-2_1 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 3-4

Author(s):

Iain Yardley

Keyword(s):

World Health Organisation ◽

World Health ◽

Surgical Safety Checklist ◽

Surgical Safety ◽

The World

Download Full-text

Achieving flying colours in surgical safety: audit of World Health Organization ‘Surgical Safety Checklist’ compliance

The Journal of Laryngology & Otology ◽

10.1017/s002221511200165x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 126 (10) ◽

pp. 1049-1055 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Y Sheena ◽

J M Fishman ◽

C Nortcliff ◽

T Mawby ◽

A F Jefferis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

World Health Organization ◽

Educational Intervention ◽

Standard Error ◽

World Health ◽

Local Version ◽

Surgical Safety Checklist ◽

Surgical Safety ◽

National Patient ◽

The Mean ◽

Health Organization

AbstractObjective:The World Health Organization ‘Surgical Safety Checklist’ has been adopted by UK surgical units following National Patient Safety Agency guidance. Our aim was to assess compliance with our local version of this Checklist.Methods:Otolaryngology trainee doctors prospectively assessed compliance with the local Checklist over a six-week period. A staff educational intervention was implemented and the audit was repeated 12 months later.Results:A total of 72 cases were assessed. The initial audit found that: 44 per cent of procedures were undocumented at ‘Sign in’; ‘Time out’ was inappropriately interrupted in 39 per cent of cases; the procedure started before Checklist completion in 33 per cent of cases; and the ‘Sign out’ was not read out in 94 per cent of cases and was not fully documented in 42 per cent of cases. Following education, re-audit indicated that overall compliance had improved from 63.7 per cent (±8.9 per cent standard error of the mean) to 90.4 per cent (±2.7 per cent standard error of the mean).Conclusion:Our completed audit cycle demonstrated a significant improvement in Checklist compliance following educational intervention. We discuss barriers to compliance, as well as strategies for quality improvement, and we call for other surgeons to similarly publish their Checklist experience and assess its impact on surgical outcomes.

Download Full-text