Safe Surgery NZ

Safe Surgery NZ aims to make surgery safer by improving teamwork and communication in the operating theatre. The 2017 Surgical Safety Culture Survey demonstrates an improvement in the attitudes and perceptions of surgical team members across New Zealand. 

Key findings

• The 2017 survey highlights improvement across the majority of dimensions/factors since 2015. The areas with the greatest improvements include communication, adherence to established safety practices and coordination.
  
  
• 85 percent of respondents agreed that surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses work together as a well-coordinated team (up from 77 percent in 2015). 
  
  
• 71 percent agreed that team discussions (such as surgical briefings and debriefings) were common (up from 51 percent).
  
  
• 67 percent agreed that surgical teams always discuss the operative plan before incision (up from 52 percent).
  
  
• 61 percent agreed that post-operative debriefings always include a discussion of key concerns for patient recovery and post-op management (up from 53 percent).
  
  
• Comments from surgical team members indicate that, while there are still opportunities for improvement, there have been positive shifts in communication, teamwork and buy-in to the Safe Surgery NZ interventions.

Summary results from the 2017 Surgical Safety Culture Survey

Last updated 20/06/2021