WHO SAFE SURGERY CHECKLIST IMPLEMENTATION IN UKRAINE: MEDICAL PERSONNEL COMPLIENCE AND OTHER ASPECTS

Abstract

Summary. WHO surgical checklist is an effective tool for human-related adverse perioperative event prevention. Although it’s implementation often accompanied by different challenges. The objective of the study was to evaluate the quality of implementation of the modified WHO surgical checklist and to identify the main barriers to its completion. Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of 366 medical records of patients that undergoing a Cesarean section was performed during the period from 1 October 2022 to 5 January 2023 and the accompanying checklists to evaluate their completion. Results. The average checklist completion rate was 94.2 %. The least filled field was “specimen labelling” and “date and time” in the final section (87.9%, n = 190), the most – patient identification, informed consent to anesthesia, presence of the relevant laboratory data and obstetric history, readiness of the anesthetic equipment, known allergies (100 %, n = 216). Among the checklists’ sections, fields were most unmarked in the “end of procedure” section (91.7 % filled), followed by the “preoperative assessment” (94.5 % filled) and most rarely in the “preinduction assessment” (95.5% filled). Conclusion and recommendations. The results of the study indicate the average compliance of the medical staff to filling out the surgical checklist «Safe Surgery» in the Kyiv City Maternity Hospital No. 5, and the high completeness of the filled checklists. Failure to complete the checklist was most often associated with urgent surgical interventions. Analysis of compliance of medical personnel and the quality of filling out checklists is an important and mandatory component of improving the safety of surgery and anesthesia.