House of Commons debate – Surgical fires in the NHS (16 December 2021)

Summary

This is a debate from the House of Commons on 16 December 2021 on the issue of preventing surgical fires in the NHS.

Content

Background

A surgical fire is one that occurs in, on or around a patient undergoing a surgical procedure and is an internationally recognised patient safety issue. Although rare, these incidents can cause serious harm to both patients and healthcare professionals and, in some cases, result in life-changing injuries.

House of Commons Debate

Key points raised in this debate included:

• There is a discrepancy in how surgical fires are reported, which raises questions about the true numbers of how many of these incidents occur annually in the NHS.
• Training courses and education for operating theatre health professionals on preventing surgical fires is inconsistent.
• Calls for the implementation of the recommendations of The Short Life Working group on the prevention of surgical fires.
• Discussion about formally classifying surgical fires as never events.
• Calls for a standardised approach to the reporting of surgical fires.
• Support for the inclusion of surgical fire prevention in the surgical and perioperative education and training syllabus.

Related reading

• Kathy Nabbie, Development of the Fire Risk Assessment Score (FRAS) in theatres, 26 October 2020
• Kathy Nabbie, How I raised awareness of fires in the operating theatre, 15 October 2019
• Patient Safety Learning, Preventing surgical fires: What action is being taken?, 30 November 2021
• The Surgical Fires Expert Working Group, A case for the prevention and management of surgical fires in the UK, September 2020