A survey of the ten-year implementation of WHO surgical safety checklist in China

Objective To investigate the current status of the ten-year implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) surgical safety checklist (SSC) in China. Methods A questionnaire was designed based on the three phases described by the checklist — the period before induction of anaesthesia, the period before skin incision, and the period before patient leaves operating room, taking into account some hotspots and disputes.The questionnaire was sent to the members of the Chinese-based online New Youth Anesthesia Forum through the WeChat platform.Answers were completed by mobile phones or desktop computers.Each WeChat ID number allowed only one answer for each individual participant. Results A total of 3 943 members red the questionnaire invitation, of which 2 121 members completed the questionnaire with an overall completion rate of 53.79%.For checks completed before induction of anesthesia, the percentage of members who routinely practiced checks before induction of anesthesia was 93.35%, the percentage of members who completed each and every element of the checklist was 60.16%, and the percentage of members who selected the element of the checklist the surgeon was not involved in the check was 14.05%.For checks practiced before skin incision, the percentage of members who routinely completed checks before skin incision was 78.22%, the percentage of members who completed each and every element of the checklist was 51.91%, and the percentage of members who selected the element of the checklist surgeons and anesthesiologists routinely stated their own professional key information was 18.24% and 18.81%, respectively.For checks practiced before the patient leaved the operating room, the percentage of members who routinely completed checks before removing the patient from the operating room was 64.26%, and the percentage of members who completed each and every element of the checklist was 44.18%.The percentage of members who was really serious about practicing the checklist was 56.20%.The percentage of members who believed that surgeons should participated in checks practiced before induction of anesthesia was 81.47%.If the member himself or a member of his family needed a surgery, the percentage of members who hoped to implement the checklist was 98.35%.The percentage of members who believed that practicing WHO SSC could reduce the complications of surgery and improve the anesthetic safety of patients was 94.34%. Conclusion The implementing rate of checks practiced before induction of anesthesia is high, while the implementing rates of checks completed before skin incision and before patient leaves operating room are sequentially reduced in China.Although there are some problems with the implementation of WHO SSC, most respondents believe that implementing SSC can improve the anesthetic safety of patients undergoing surgery. Key words: Anesthesia; Surgical safety checklist