Marlot Kuiper

102 Connective Routines The WHO checklist was tested in a pilot study conducted in eight hospitals. Haynes et al. (2009) concluded that postoperative complications decreased by more than one third, and death rates dropped 62%. It thus seemed worthwhile to implement yet effective strategies as the surgical safety checklist to reduce surgical mistakes. Based on these findings, the WHO encouraged hospitals to adjust the checklist to their local circumstances and subsequently implement the checklist. The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist is the most adopted checklist worldwide (Clay-Williams and Colligan, 2015; Sivathasan et al., 2010). However, there are highly similar procedural checklists that are associated with reducing postoperative morbidity and mortality. The Surgical Patient Safety System (SURPASS) is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary checklist that follows the patient from admission to surgery to discharge (Treadwell et al., 2014; De Vries et al., 2011). This checklist – a Dutch initiative - incorporates existing protocols and checks to create a comprehensive framework for the surgical pathway and minimize errors during transfers from one stage of the pathway to the next (ibid). In the years that followed, more than 4000 health care institutions around the globe implemented the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist – or similar initiatives – in their surgical department . (Pugel et al. 2015). By now, the Surgical Safety Checklist also is important ‘indicator’ for international accreditation (e.g. Joint Commission International), health care inspectorates and internal audits (Gagné, 2016).