The WHO surgical safety checklist: a thread

This is following a conversation I had with seniors in which I mentioned the checklist and everyone’s eyes started rolling

The WHO checklist is controversial. I’ve worked with many a surgeon who believes it’s a waste of time

It’s often seen as yet another example of how uselessly bureaucratic processes have become in the NHS. All the additional paperwork and needless faff

I myself felt similarly. The checklist seemed too vague to make any tangible difference, just an exercise in waffle

@Atul_Gawande is one of my career heroes. I also think he’s a great writer. I happened to read his book ‘the checklist manifesto’

He was one of the founders of the checklist. The book totally changed my view.

I looked at research on the checklist. The numbers checked out. The improvements were there on paper, measurable, tangible. I recommend https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/12/10/the-checklist/amp & https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa0810119 as starting points and of course ‘the checklist manifesto’ itself.