Scarlett McNally: Surgical checklists help improve patient safety and teamworking (BMJ, 9 February 2023)

Summary

In this BMJ opinion piece, Scarlett McNally discusses the revised National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIP2).

The original NatSSIPs were designed to prevent “never events”—yet more than 300 occurrences of wrong site surgery, retained objects after procedure, or wrong implant insertion still occur yearly in the UK.  NatSSIP2 brings in safety science and human factors, with expectations for organisations including standardisation, harmonisation, training, and audit.

"The biggest danger is if the new standards sit on the shelf. With their benefits for patient safety and teamworking, we must accept the repetitive elements and consistently apply these new standards, every time, in every department", writes Scarlett.