Your Life in WHO's Hands: The World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist: A Critical Review of the Literature

Abstract

Safe surgery is a world-wide recognised issue. The World Health Organization statistics show that the occurrence of major complications is between 3 and 16%, and the occurrence of disability and death is between 0.4 and 0.8% (WHO 2009). According to Vijayasekar and Steele (2009) 234 million major surgical procedures are undertaken globally each year. The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has collated over 1 million reports of surgical incidences in England and Wales between October 2006 and September 2007. Weiser et al (2008) quote a world-wide figure of 7 million individuals affected with a disabling complication, and a death rate of 1 million.