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Showing results for tags 'Surgery - General'.
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News ArticleBlack children in the UK are at four times greater risk of complications following emergency appendicitis surgery compared with white children. Researchers revealed these alarming disparities in postoperative outcomes recently. The study, led by Dr Amaki Sogbodjor, a consultant anaesthetist at Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London, showed that black children faced these greater risks irrespective of their socioeconomic status and health history. Appendicitis is one of the most prevalent paediatric surgical emergencies; approximately 10,000 cases are treated annually in the UK. However, this marks the first attempt to scrutinise demographic variances in postoperative complication rates related to appendicitis. Dr Sogbodjor emphasised the critical need for further investigation into the root causes of these disparities. "This apparent health inequality requires urgent further investigation and development of interventions aimed at resolution," she said. Read full story Source: Surgery, 25 March 2024
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- Race
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Content ArticleKatie Hurst is a general surgery registrar based in the Thames Valley Deanery and chair of the Trainees’ Committee for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. In this interview, we talk to Katie about the work she is doing with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh on raising awareness and protecting staff from ionising radiation.
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- Staff safety
- Radiology
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Content ArticleThe Joint Commission has released a simplified breakdown of eight patient safety goals for US hospitals in 2024.
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- Patient identification
- Staff factors
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Content ArticleThe National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs) 2 are intended to help share learning and best practice to support multidisciplinary teams and organisations to deliver safer care. This two-page summary document, published by the Centre for Perioperative Care, provides a concise overview of NatSSIPs for anyone who does interventional procedures and the teams who support them.
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- Operating theatre / recovery
- Surgery - General
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EventAn estimated 8% of injuries to healthcare workers in the hospital setting and 17% of worker injuries in the surgical setting are associated with scalpels. Scalpel-related injuries occur most commonly when blades are being attached to or removed from the scalpel handle. In addition to posing infection concerns, such incidents carry a high risk of causing structural damage to the hand, requiring extensive intervention and rehabilitation. Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration mandates that employers "identify, evaluate, and implement" safer medical devices for healthcare workers, data indicates that such alternative devices are rarely used. In December, ECRI published evaluation findings for 11 scalpel blade removers—devices designed to facilitate safe blade removal and exchange in a variety of settings. Join experts from ECRI's Device Evaluation team as they discuss how this technology impacts patient safety and how to determine the best product for your needs. During this lab webcast, the following learning objectives will be discussed: The prevalence of scalpel-related injuries in healthcare Products available and ECRI's testing methodology Keys to successful implementation of the technology Register for the webcast
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- Medical device / equipment
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Event
Theatres & Decontamination Conference
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
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EventJoin us for a full day of education covering those topics that are the basis of our (or your) everyday practice. From risk management to infection control and patient care to practitioners wellbeing, leave the day informed, challenged and inspired. Book your tickets
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- Operating theatre / recovery
- Surgery - General
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Content ArticleElective care refers to when patients receive non-urgent treatment, normally in hospital, including, tests and scans, outpatient care, surgery and cancer treatment. The NHS is currently seeing long waiting times for some elective procedures, with the Government setting an ambition to reduce elective waiting times to less than a year by 2025. Increased waiting times mean patients have to wait longer for the care they need. This can lead to patients suffering increased pain, their condition may worsen, or they may develop other illnesses associated with the reason that they are waiting for elective care. This can cause both physical harm and mental distress to patients, their families, and carers. The Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) Senior Safety Investigator, Neil Alexander, blogs about the challenges facing the NHS in tackling the elective care backlog and how learning from our investigation reports may be able to help the NHS rise to this challenge.
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- Organisation / service factors
- Treatment
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Content Article
Surgical doctors needed for psychological safety research
Patient_Safety_Learning posted an article in Culture
Are you a surgical doctor working in the NHS? Could you spare 1 hour of your time to share your insights and help researchers explore psychological safety? Shinal Patel-Thakkar, a trainee Clinical Psychologist, is seeking participants for a qualitative research study into psychological safety in surgical environments. In this interview she tells us more about the study, how people can register their interest, and provides reassurance that confidentiality will be maintained.- Posted
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- Team culture
- Safety culture
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Content ArticlePatient harm, patient safety and their governance have been ongoing concerns for policymakers, care providers and the public. In response to high rates of adverse events/medical errors, the World Health Organization (WHO) advocated the use of surgical safety checklists (SSC) to improve safety in surgical care. Canadian health authorities subsequently made SSC use a mandatory organisational practice, with public reporting of safety indicators for compliance tied to pre-existing legislation and to reimbursements for surgical procedures. Perceived as the antidote for socio-technical issues in operating rooms (ORs), much of the SSC-related research has focused on assessing clinical and economic effectiveness, worker perceptions, attitudes and barriers to implementation. Suboptimal outcomes are attributed to implementations that ignored contexts. Using ethnographic data from a study of SSC at an urban teaching hospital (C&C), a critical lens and the concepts of ritual and ceremony, this paper examinse how it is used, and theorise the nature and implications of that use. Two rituals, one improvised and one scripted, comprised C&C’s SSC ceremony. Improvised performances produced dislocations that were ameliorated by scripted verification practices. This ceremony produced causally opaque links to patient safety goals and reproduced OR/medical culture. We discuss the theoretical contributions of the study and the implications for patient safety.
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- Surgery - General
- Checklists
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Content ArticleTo decrease surgical site infections after appendectomy for acute appendicitis, preoperative broad-spectrum antibiotics are often used in clinical practice. However, this treatment strategy has come under scrutiny because of increasing rates of antibiotic-resistant infections. This multisite quality improvement project aimed to decrease the treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis with piperacillin-tazobactam without increasing the rate of surgical site infections. The intervention had two distinct components: Updating electronic health record orders to encourage preoperative administration of narrow-spectrum antibiotics. Educating surgeons and emergency department clinicians about selecting appropriate antibiotic therapy for acute appendicitis. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics and outcomes were compared six months before and after implementation of the quality improvement intervention. The intervention successfully decreased piperacillin-tazobactam administration without increasing the rate of surgical site infections in patients with acute appendicitis.
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- Medication
- Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
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Content ArticleLeadership in a safety culture environment is essential in avoiding patient harm. However, leadership in surgery is not routinely taught or assessed. This study aimed to identify a framework, metrics and tools to improve surgical leadership and safety outcomes. It identified three areas of leadership needed to build a culture of safety in surgery: Control risk (risk management) Drive progress (opportunity management) Rally support for the mission (people management) A leadership assessment tool (SLAM) was developed to provide objective metrics of surgical leadership behaviours based on nine key performance indicators.
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- Surgery - General
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News Article
Black children suffer ‘more complications’ after appendicitis surgery
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Black children in the UK are four times more likely to experience complications after appendicitis surgery than their white counterparts, a study has found. The study, funded by the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, looked at 2,799 children from 80 hospitals across the UK aged under 16 who had surgery for suspected appendicitis between November 2019 and January 2022. Of these, 185 children (7%) developed postoperative complications within 30 days of the surgery. Three-quarters of these complications were related to the wound, while a quarter were respiratory, urinary or catheter-related or of unknown origin. The study found that black children had a four times greater risk of experiencing complications after the operation, and that this risk was independent of the child’s socioeconomic status and health history. Appendicitis is one of the most common paediatric surgical emergency with 10,000 performed every year. The authors said that this was the first study to look at the demographic differences of postoperative complication rates in regards to appendicitis. The researchers said they could not draw firm conclusions regarding why black children had worse outcomes after this type of emergency surgery, and that this apparent health inequality “requires urgent further investigation and development of interventions aimed at resolution”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 February 2024- Posted
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- Race
- Surgery - General
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Content ArticlePatient engagement technologies (PETs) are tools used to guide patients through the perioperative period. This study in the American Journal of Surgery aimed to investigate the levels of patient engagement with PETs through the perioperative period and its impact on clinical outcomes. The authors found that use of PETs improves patient outcomes and experiences in the perioperative period. Patients who engage more frequently with PETs have shorter length of stay (LOS) with lower readmission and post-operative complication rates.
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- Patient engagement
- Surgery - General
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Content ArticleNontechnical skills (NTS) are the behaviours and thought processes used by surgeons to make decisions, maintain awareness of the operating environment, communicate with and lead team members with the view to producing reliably safe outcomes. This qualitative research explored how surgeons deploy NTS to facilitate safe and effective outcomes from surgical interventions. The authors conclude that successfully understanding and engaging NTS is potentially more proactively useful to surgeons than feedback from more invasive techniques used by some approaches to safe operator assurance.
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- Surgery - General
- Qualitative
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Content ArticleThe adrenal glands are found in the fatty tissue at the back of the abdomen above each kidney, and produce steroid and adrenaline hormones. Surgery on tumours of the adrenal gland is uncommon compared with surgery for other tumours such as those of the breast, bowel, kidney and lung. Research has shown that the more adrenal operations a surgeon undertakes per year, the better the overall outcomes for patients undergoing that type of surgery. In this study, the outcomes from adrenal operations recorded over 18 years in the national adrenal surgical registry were analysed. The results confirmed previous findings showing that postoperative complications and length of hospital stay were reduced for patients operated by surgeons who did more adrenal operations per year. Operations done by keyhole surgery had better outcomes. Operations done either in older patients, or for the rare adrenal cancer tumours had worse outcomes, as did operations in which both adrenal glands were removed. The authors recommended that all surgeons performing adrenal surgery should monitor the outcomes of their operations, ideally in a national registry, and discuss these with patients before surgery; and undertake a minimum of six adrenal operations per year, but a minimum of 12 per year if doing surgery for adrenal cancer or surgery to remove both adrenal glands.
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- Surgery - General
- Medicine - Diabetes and Endocrinology
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Content ArticleConcerns have been voiced about the possibility of health risks to operating room staff from exposure to surgical smoke generated from electrocautery. This study reviewed available literature to try and assess this risk. The authors concluded that: Regulations on Surgical Smoke that supersede the best judgement of the surgeon are not warranted. The extent of particulate pollution from surgical smoke has been overstated and drawing parallels between exposure to surgical smoke and cigarette smoking is not justified. Numerous studies consistently report negligible levels of pollutants associated with surgical smoke within the operating room's breathable air. While transmission of HPV through surgical smoke is a theoretical concern, conclusive evidence supporting the claim is yet to be established.
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- Staff safety
- Surgery - General
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Content ArticleThis project aims to develop peer consensus centred on specific themes defined by the steering group covering topics relevant to the optimal, universal and evidence-based care bundle to reduce surgical site infections (SSIs). It will support building expert consensus around best practices when selecting the care bundle to reduce surgical site infections in practice. It is hoped that the output will support best practice patient management in Europe. The survey takes under 10 minutes to complete. Please review each statement and indicate your level of agreement with it (tick one box only per statement). Please only complete this questionnaire once. Your anonymous responses will be a source of data for the development of a consensus publication. This project has been initiated and funded by Becton Dickinson and is being managed and delivered by Triducive.
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- Surgery - General
- Healthcare associated infection
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Content ArticleThis study examines the prevalence of advanced care planning (ACP) for patients undergoing endoscopic, fluoroscopic, laparoscopic or open surgical gastrostomy tube procedures at an academic hospital in the USA. The authors found that only 10.6% of included patients had accessible ACP documents available within their electronic medical record (EMR) and that Black patients had lower rates of ACP documentation. They also highlight an association between ACP documentation and decreased hospital length of stay, with no difference in mortality. The authors recommend the expansion of ACP in perioperative settings.
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- Decision making
- Collaboration
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Content ArticleIn the fast-evolving realm of contemporary healthcare, surgical techniques have attained unprecedented levels of advancement, leading to substantial enhancements in patient care. However, the journey towards complete recovery extends far beyond the operating room, emphasising the importance of effective postoperative care. In this critical phase, patient partnerships play a pivotal role, ensuring a holistic and personalised approach to recovery.
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- Surgery - General
- Post-op period
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Content ArticleAlthough disparities in surgical outcomes are well-documented, understanding of how socioecological factors drive these disparities remains limited. This US study’s objective was to develop and assess the acceptability and feasibility of a comprehensive tool to evaluate socioecological determinants of health in patients requiring colorectal surgery. The authors developed an 88-item assessment tool measuring 31 socioecological determinants of health. It was assessed as having high acceptability and feasibility for patients who required colorectal surgery. The authors concluded that this work will help to identify what research is needed to understand and address surgical disparities.
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- Health inequalities
- Health Disparities
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EventThis event gives trainees at all levels the opportunity to attend, present and gain feedback on their Audit and QI work. Further lectures will include the McKeown Medal Lecture, a keynote on patient safety and discussion from a Trainee Committee member. Trainees are invited to submit their abstracts for consideration for presentation at this event. Topics for submission: General Surgery, Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery, Specialties & Common Interest and Patient Safety. Register
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Content ArticleThe Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 'Let's remove it' hub is a platform to tackle bullying and undermining across the surgical workforce.
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- Organisational culture
- Surgery - General
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Content Article
Surgeon News: Truth and compassion (December 2023)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Patient engagement
Surgeons' News is a magazine for surgical, dental and allied healthcare professionals. Published quarterly by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, it features comment and opinion from leading professionals, plus reviews and reports on subjects relevant to all career levels. In the article 'Truth and compassion' (page 20-21), David Alderson considers the patient’s perspective on mistakes.- Posted
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- Patient safety incident
- Patient engagement
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Content ArticlePostoperative surgical site infection is a serious problem. Coverage of sterile goods may be important to protect the goods from bacterial air contamination while awaiting surgery. This study from Wistrand and colleagues, evaluated the effectiveness of this practice in a systematic review covering five databases using search terms related to bacterial contamination in the operating room and on surgical instruments. No negative effects regarding bacterial contamination were found and the authors conclude that protection with a sterile cover decreases bacterial air contamination of sterile goods while waiting for surgery to start.
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- Surgery - General
- Infection control
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