The use of the who surgical safety checklist-part one : the state of the art in an operating theater in Basrah

الملخص EN

Background : This is a prospective study carried out at one of the main operating theaters in Basrah general hospital.

The study lasted for 6 months (from May to October 2013).

Objectives : The aim was to assess the adherence of staff in the operating theater to items of services covered by a World Health Organization Checklist.

The study is in line with the vision of the Ministry of Health to provide high quality care.

Method : A structured questionnaire form was prepared for the purpose of the study.

It was based on the World Health Organization checklist ; first edition.

Observation of all procedures, instructions and labeling of patients before, during and after the surgical operation was made.

A total of 378 surgical operations (patients) were covered in the study.

Results : The degree of adherence to the various items of the checklist (28 items) varied greatly.

Items with high adherence rate (> 90 %) were those related to documentation of age, gender, informed consent, shortness of breath and patient recovery checking.

Items with fair documentation (70-90 %) were those related to next of kin, mobile phone number, history of chronic disease, time of last meal, allergy to anaesthesia, post-operative checking of certain equipment, preparation of blood and prophylactic antibiotics and biopsy handling.

All other items were of poor adherence.

Conclusions : The adherence to the requirements of the surgical safety check list was fair but further improvement in its use is required to enhance quality of care.