• E N de Vries, M W Hollmann, S M Smorenburg, D J Gouma, and M A Boermeester.
• Department of Surgery, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• Qual Saf Health Care. 2009 Apr 1;18(2):121-6.

IntroductionA large number of preventable adverse events are encountered during hospital admission and in particular around surgical procedures. Checklists may well be effective in surgery to prevent errors and adverse events. We developed, validated and evaluated a SURgical PAtient Safety System (SURPASS) checklist.MethodsA prototype checklist was constructed based on literature on surgical errors and adverse events, and on human-factors literature. The items on the theory-based checklist were validated by comparison with process deviations (safety risk events) during real-time observation of the surgical pathway. Subsequently, the usability of the checklist was evaluated in daily clinical practice.ResultsThe multidisciplinary SURPASS checklist accompanies the patient during each step of the surgical pathway and is completed by different members of the team. During 171 high-risk surgical procedures, 593 process deviations were observed. Of the deviations suitable for coverage by a checklist, 96% corresponded to an item on the checklist. Users were generally positive about the checklist, but a number of logistic improvements were suggested.ConclusionThe SURPASS checklist covers the vast majority of process deviations suitable for checklist assessment and can be applied in clinical practice relatively simply. SURPASS is the first validated patient safety checklist for the entire surgical pathway.

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