Analysis Of Compliance Of Surgical Safety Protocols In Operating Rooms Of Tertiary Care Hospitals Of Lahore

Background: Proper application and compliance of surgical safety protocols (SSP) decreases morbidity and mortality. Nonetheless,

data on compliance of SSP is limited in Pakistan.

Aim: The aim of our study was to analyze of compliance of surgical safety protocols in operating rooms of tertiary care hospitals of

Lahore

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 178 health care providers including surgeons and other OT related staff was conducted in four

tertiary care hospitals of Lahore within a time period of two months, based on convenient sampling. A pre-validated questionnaire

(with 5-point Likert scale, 1 strongly disagree and 5 strongly agree) was distributed among the health care professionals after taking

consent. Data was then analyzed on SPSS 21.

Results: A total of 178 health care providers took part in our study. Among the respondents, 61.8% needed to improve their compliance

of SSP& whereas 38.2% had good compliance. Regarding safety climate 55.6% had good safety climate of operative rooms (ORs) and

44.4% needed improvement. Regarding teamwork environment, 43.3% reported to have a good teamwork environment but 56.7%

needed improvement. Our study found a statistically significant association between safety climate of ORs and adoption of SSP

(p<&0.001). A statistically significant association was also found between teamwork climate and compliance of SSP (p<&0.001).

Conclusion: The results suggest that most of the health care professionals in tertiary care hospitals of Lahore are not aware of SSP,

WHO surgical safety checklist (SSCL) and its implementation in ORs. WHO SSCL, is not currently in use in greater number of the

ORs? Majority of the OR personnel did not receive any training regarding the use of safety checklist.

Keywords: surgical safety, operation rooms, WHO SSCL.

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