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Safer surgery journal articles (long and short versions, updated August 2021)

17th December, 2021

The World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) was introduced to operating rooms (ORs) in the late 2000s as an important patient safety measure. More recent evidence highlights the mutually reinforcing roles of checklist use along with enhanced multidisciplinary teamwork, briefing and debriefing practices, effective communication techniques, and multidisciplinary simulation training. Teamwork has many efficiency and safety benefits other than just preventing sentinel errors: it is the antithesis of bullying and harassment.

This document provides the evidence base for using these practices as well as evidence-based approaches to implementation. It is available in long and short versions. 

See also: Improving surgical teamwork and communication: A guide to preparing and implementing (August 2021)