Postoperative patients were sampled from surgical wards at two large teaching hospitals in London. Patients were shown two professionally produced videos — one demonstrating use of the WHO surgical safety checklist and one demonstrating the equivalent periods of their operation before its introduction. Patients’ views were captured through use of a questionnaire, and 141 patients participated.
Results of the survey include:
• Seventy-eight percent of patients agreed that they would like the checklist to be used if they were having an operation as compared to 4.3 percent who were not in favor of its use.
• Seventy-four percent agreed checklist use would make them feel safer.
• Sixty-nine percent agreed it would improve communication between staff.
• Sixty-seven percent agreed it would reduce errors during surgery.
• Sixty-one percent did not agree the checklist was an unnecessary ‘tick-box’ exercise.
• Overall, patients did not seem to mind which member of their care team took charge of the checklist.
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