When is a checklist far more than a checklist?

When it’s as much about changing habits and culture as it is about ticking off the correct boxes as in the case of the Surgical Safety Checklist (SSCL) that’s now one of Accreditation Canada ROPs (Required Organizational Practices).

Accreditation surveyors will be looking to see all three phases of the SSCL in action when they conduct their surveys of Coastal facilities in just over two weeks (June 22 – 26, 2015). And while VCH compliance around use of the tool is high, there is plenty of ongoing discussion about how the tool can be used most effectively.

Research and clinical observations have shown that the checklist – expected to be used for all surgical procedures performed in an OR setting – is most effective when team members are all present, participate in a formal pause, and as a team conduct a comprehensive conversation that increases the team situation awareness. With monthly meetings of all of Coastal’s Perioperative Leads taking place over the last few months, there have been some excellent insights gained into how best to use the SSCL within each facility and a growing appreciation around how the data can be used as part of a continuous improvement tool.

From Accreditation Canada’s perspective, meeting this ROP in Coastal means demonstrating that we:

• Have adopted the VCH Surgical Safety Checklist at all sites performing surgical procedures in the OR
• Consistently use all three phases of the Surgical Safety Checklist: briefing, time out and debriefing.
• Monitor our compliance with the Surgical Safety Checklist as a key quality metric
• Use the Surgical Safety Checklist metrics and evaluation for continuous improvement

Read the full ROP fact sheet

We’ve created fact sheets for all priority ROPs including the Surgical Safety Checklist that include a checklist of what compliance around each of the elements above looks like as well as links to Practice Guidelines, toolkits and sample questions from surveyors.

Get the Surgical Safety Checklist Fact Sheet on VCH-Connect.

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Share this story and the Surgical Safety Checklist ROP with your team by email and by posting it in your lunchroom.

More stories in this series:

• Preventing pressure ulcers the key to one Coastal ROP
• Accreditation 2015: Are you prepared for questions about falls?
• Preventing VTE a key focus for Coastal Accreditation efforts
• Med Rec another key focus for Coastal accreditation preparation
• Increased focus on patient-centred care being brought to Coastal by Accreditation Canada surveyors
• Verifying patient ID key Coastal deliverable for June 2015 Accreditation

Have questions about the Surgical Safety Checklist?

Contact: Allison Muniak
Email:  Allison.Muniak@vch.ca

Have questions about Coastal Accreditation 2015?

Contact: Jody Sydor Jones
Coastal Director, Clinical Quality and Patient Safety
Email: Jody.SydorJones@vch.ca

Visit the Accreditation site on VCH-Connect