Surgical safety checklist aimed at enhancing patient safety at Hotel Dieu Hospital

A new patient safety initiative scheduled to go live across the province in January 2010 is well into the pilot phase in the operating rooms (ORs) at Hotel Dieu Hospital.

In January 2010, all hospitals in Ontario will be required to use a surgical safety checklist to monitor the most common tasks and items carried out or used by OR teams.  The checklist will cover such things as confirmation of patient identity prior to the administration of anesthesia; review of patient allergies; instrument, sponge and needle counts; and wrap-up procedures. Use of the checklist has been shown to reduce rates of death and complications among patients.

Hospitals will be required to report publicly twice a year on compliance with use of the checklist.  The first public reporting will take place July 31, 2010.  The checklist builds on the provincial patient safety indicator initiative, which was launched in May 2008 and currently includes eight indicators.

For the past five months, the ORs at Hotel Dieu have been piloting a version of the surgical safety checklist with orthopedic surgeries, says OR Manager Lorraine Osborne.

“It helps to ensure that we have the right patient and right equipment, that everyone knows their roles and that we’re fully prepped for anything unexpected,” she says.  “We took the initiative of drawing up our own checklist for this pilot phase, although in January we’ll be working from a formal template provided by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.”

Lorraine notes that OR teams already practice patient safety initiatives such as “time out,” when the surgical team stops en masse prior to a surgery to confirm the patient and procedure.  They also use the “neutral zone,” a process that allows only one person at a time to handle sharp objects.  It also involves placing these items on a bright orange sterile mat that signals a danger zone.

“Our teams have a tradition of being vigilant guardians of patient care and safety,” says Lorraine. “The new surgical safety checklist will encompass and enhance safety practices across our ORs.”