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

Abstract

Background: The objectives of this study are to determine the awareness of health care professionals towards surgical safety protocols (SSP), to assess the compliance with standardized SSP and to analyze the associations between experience of health care providers, Team work climate, safety climate and compliance to SSP in operating rooms (ORs) of tertiary care hospitals of Lahore.

Method: 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 was distributed among the health care professionals after taking consent. Data was then analyzed on SPSS 21 and statistical tests were applied accordingly.

Results: A total of 178 health care providers took part in our study. 61.8% of the respondents needed to improve their compliance of SSP, whereas 38.2% had good compliance. 55.6% reported to have good safety climate of ORs and 44.4% needed improvement. 43.3% reported to have a good team work environment but 56.7% needed improvement.

Our study found a statistically significant association between safety climate of ORs and adoption of SSP. A statistically significant association was also found between team work climate and compliance of SSP.

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