We Asked the Experts: The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist and the COVID‐19 Pandemic: Recommendations for Content and Implementation Adaptations
Open Access
- 26 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in World Journal of Surgery
- Vol. 45 (5), 1293-1296
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-021-06000-y
Abstract
Background As surgical systems are forced to adapt and respond to new challenges, so should the patient safety tools within those systems. We sought to determine how the WHO SSC might best be adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods 18 Panelists from five continents and multiple clinical specialties participated in a three-round modified Delphi technique to identify potential recommendations, assess agreement with proposed recommendations and address items not meeting consensus. Results From an initial 29 recommendations identified in the first round, 12 were identified for inclusion in the second round. After discussion of recommendations without consensus for inclusion or exclusion, four additional recommendations were added for an eventual 16 recommendations. Nine of these recommendations were related to checklist content, while seven recommendations were related to implementation. Conclusions This multinational panel has identified 16 recommendations for sites looking to use the surgical safety checklist during the COVID-19 pandemic. These recommendations provide an example of how the SSC can adapt to meet urgent and emerging needs of surgical systems by targeting important processes and encouraging critical discussions.This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit:
- Approaching Surgical Triage During the COVID-19 PandemicAnnals of Surgery, 2020
- COVID‐19 and surgical practiceSurgical Practice, 2020
- Variation in global uptake of the Surgical Safety ChecklistBritish Journal of Surgery, 2020
- Reducing surgical mortality in Scotland by use of the WHO Surgical Safety ChecklistBritish Journal of Surgery, 2019
- A Surgical Safety Checklist to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality in a Global PopulationThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2009
- Research guidelines for the Delphi survey techniqueJournal of Advanced Nursing, 2000