DOHA: Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has implemented an enhanced specialised surgical safety procedure at all its hospitals to deliver a safer patient care.
The Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC), developed by World Healthcare Organisation (WHO), is designed to introduce a more standardised approach to the treatment of surgical patients by improving communication, enhancing teamwork and reducing preventable complications and errors.
The SSC is similar in concept to the type of safety checklist that pilots use before every flight to reduce the chances of human error.
The Chief of Medical, Academic and Research Affairs at HMC, Professor Michael Richmond, said: “The introduction of tailored safety protocol is one of several new measures being implemented throughout HMC to support the delivery of the safest and most effective care for our patients.”
The WHO study has documented benefits of surgical safety checklists for hospitals and patients in terms of lowered deaths and lowered surgical procedural errors. In turn, this helps save lives and improves healthcare delivery.
“With the help of an expert multinational, interdisciplinary team who have carefully studied the WHO checklist, we have created a specialised Operating Theatre Surgical Safety Checklist to meet HMC’s specific needs,” said Chairman of Department of Surgery, Dr Abdulla Al Ansari, at HMC.
“I strongly believe that this is an important safety protocol that will truly benefit every hospital and surgical team and contribute to improvements in patient safety.
“While our surgical teams have always used multiple safety measures in the past, these have varied depending on the teams involved. By introducing a standardized set of safety protocols in our hospitals, we can ensure greater consistency and improve surgical outcomes for our patients,” added Dr Al Ansari.
The SSC has a range of standard items which the surgical team checks immediately before and after a patient’s procedure. It includes confirmation by the surgical team of the patient’s name, the details of the planned procedure, if the patient has any allergies or if other potential complications need to be considered by the team during the operation.
HMC recently conducted workshops to introduce surgery, anaesthesiology, and nursing staff to the SSC. The workshops were run in collaboration with Partners Healthcare International, which is affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
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