Five steps to safer surgery audit tool

Summary

This audit tool developed by Mark Rigby, Head of Theatre Services at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is designed to assess theatre compliance with the five steps to safer surgery, which includes the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist. The checks included in the five steps are designed to reduce the number of errors and complications resulting from surgical procedures by improving team communication and by verifying and checking essential care interventions.

The tool features a monthly observation audit and documentation audit and presents recorded data in a results tab which tracks progress by month, providing more timely data locally than the clinical scorecard.