Hospitals asked to adopt surgical safety list

MANILA, Philippines – A group of Filipino surgeons has urged all hospitals in the country to adopt the World Health Organization’s (WHO) surgical safety checklist to reduce the rising incidence of deaths and complications from surgery worldwide.

Dr. Armand Crisostomo, president of the Philippine College of Surgeons (PCS), said about one million people die every year due to complications from major surgery worldwide.

The WHO’s latest initiative sought stricter compliance by hospitals conducting major surgery.

“All of these checklists are already in place in well-developed hospitals, but there is need to improve it to promote patient’s safety in surgery,” Crisostomo told a health forum in Quezon City.

He said safety in major operations would also cut expenses for both patients and hospitals.

“Major complications rates range from three to 16 percent and death rates from 0.2 percent to 10 percent, translating into at least seven million disabling complications and one million deaths each year,” he said.

“Half of the complications and cases of death could be avoided, in both developed and developing countries, if certain basic standards of care are followed,” Crisostomo said.

The WHO will launch on June 25 the “Global Patient Safety Challenge,” focusing on safe surgery.

The surgical safety checklist is being implemented in eight test sites worldwide, including the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

Crisostomo said the PCS aims to provide every hospital in the country with copies of the surgical safety checklist this year.

However, he urged the Department of Health and the Philippine Hospitals Association to help monitor the proper implementation of the checklist by hospitals.

Meanwhile, Crisostomo said the PCS is also funding a study to determine and track surgical vital statistics in the Philippines that will predict the outcome of major surgeries.   – Helen Flores