Does timing and type of surgery influence the WHO surgical checklist compliance?

Abstract

The timing and type of surgery may influence the World Health Organization (WHO) safety surgical checklist compliance. The aim was therefore to determine the prevalence of compliance and completion of the WHO surgical checklist with regard to time of the day, day of the week and type of operation. The WHO surgical safety checklist for all patients who underwent surgery were evaluated using a cross-sectional observation study. The time of surgery was categorised as occurring during the working-hours or after-hours. The day of surgery was categorised as occurring during the weekday or weekend. The type of surgery was categorised as an emergency or elective procedure. From 421 operations, 207 (49.2%) checklists were incomplete, 201 (47.7%) were completed and 13 (3.1%) with no attempt at the checklist. Compliance of the checklist during working-hours was similar to after-hours, with 97.6% and 95.3% respectively. Compliance of the checklist during weekdays was similar to the weekend, with 97.1% and 95.6% respectively. Elective operations had a compliance of 97.1%, compared to emergency operations at 96.7%. There was no significant difference between checklist compliance compared to time of day (P = 0.446), day of week (P = 0.766) and type of operation (P = 0.710). Time of day, day of week and type of operation does not influence the WHO surgical checklist compliance. Although the majority attempt the checklist, completion rate still requires improvement.