Thursday, March 26 2009

Guidelines which are intended to safeguard patients’ safety and reduce the incidence of adverse events during medical procedures will be introduced for surgical teams.

During a media briefing at the Health Ministry on Tuesday, Health Minister Jerry Narace announced that as part of the ministry’s thrust towards improving patient safety “with an initial focus on infection prevention and control,” the World Health Organisation surgical safety checklist would be introduced.

The checklist “has identified a set of safety checks that could be performed in any operating room,” he said.

Responding to a question on when guidelines would be implemented, Chief Medical Officer Dr Anton Cumberbatch said the process has started with surgical teams being identified.

He said an initiation session has taken place in which the protocols of WHO/PAHO were presented “in a preliminary way.”

Cumberbatch said the launch of the checklist may take place in the next two to three weeks.

“We are hoping it will be rolled out for the rest of surgical practice in TT.”

The “Checklist for Safer Surgery” provides guidelines for surgical teams before and after operations to safeguard patients’ health. It was endorsed by 250 health organisations from more than 40 countries and launched last June at PAHO’s headquarters in Washington.

The guidelines provide a checklist for “before introduction of anaesthesia or (Sign In),” “before skin incision (Time Out)” and “before the patient leaves the operating room (Sign Out).”

During the “sign-in stage,” the checklist includes the patient confirming their identity, procedure and consent. Checks are done to determine if the patient has any allergies or airway risk and the availability of equipment or assistance if there is risk of more than 500 ml of blood loss.

For the “time out check,” medical personnel must confirm that they have all introduced themselves by name and their role. The surgeon, anaesthesia professional and nurse must verbally confirm: the patient, site and procedure. The surgeon reviews the critical steps in the procedure, unexpected steps, operation duration and anticipated blood loss. The anaesthetic team conducts a review of any patient/specific concerns.

The “sign out” check involves the nurse confirming and recording with the team, the name of the procedure and that the instruments, sponge and needle counts are correct. Whether any equipment problems have to be addressed is noted. The surgeon, anaesthesia professional, and nurse reviews key concerns for recovery and management of the patient.