ObjectivesTo examine the implementation of the Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) among surgeons and anaesthetists working in Swiss hospitals and clinics and their perceptions of the SSC.MethodsCross-sectional survey at the 97th Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society of Surgery, Switzerland, 2010. Opinions of the SSC were assessed with a 6-item questionnaire.Results152 respondents answered the questionnaire (participation rate 35.1%). 64.7% respondents acknowledged having a checklist in their hospital or their clinic. Median implementation year was 2009. More than 8 out of 10 respondents reported their team applied the Sign In and the Time Out very often or quasi systematically, whereas almost half of respondents acknowledged the Sign Out was applied never or rarely. The majority of respondents agreed that the checklist improves safety and team communication, and helps to develop a safety culture. However, they were less supportive about the opinion that the checklist facilitates teamwork and eliminates social hierarchy between caregivers.ConclusionsThis survey indicates that the SSC has been largely implemented in many Swiss hospitals and clinics. Both surgeons and anaesthetists perceived the SSC as a valuable tool in improving intraoperative patient safety and communication among health care professionals, with lesser importance in facilitating teamwork (and eliminating hierarchical categories).

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Adjusting patient self-reported problem scores for RT did impact ranking of divisions, although marginally. Further studies are needed to determine the impact of RT when comparing different institutions, particularly across inter-cultural settings, where the difference in RT may be more substantial.

AimsParticipation in wrong‐site surgery may negatively influence the perception of safety by the health care professionals in the operating room (OR). The objective was to explore if perception of safety in the OR was seen as a team‐based or individualist concern and whether having participated in wrong‐site surgery was associated with perception of safety.Method and ResultsCross‐sectional survey at 2 annual meetings of surgery, in Switzerland, 2010. We used multivariate generalized models to assess the association of perception of safety in the OR (1 item) with self‐reported participation in wrong‐site surgery—overall, past (more than 3 y ago), or recent (last 3 y) participations—controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and opinion of the surgical safety checklist. One hundred ninety respondents answered the questionnaire (participation rate of 22.6%). Respondents mostly had a team‐based, rather than an individualistic, perception of safety in the OR. In multivariate analyses, the influence of ever participation in wrong‐site surgery was not significant. However, past participation in wrong‐site surgery (more than 3 y ago) was associated with perception of safety as team based, whereas recent participation (last 3 y) was associated—despite not significant at α ≤ 5%—with perception of safety as individualistic.ConclusionIn this sample, safety in the OR is most often seen as team based rather than individualistic. Perceiving safety in the OR as team based varies according to recent or past participation in wrong‐site surgery. Longitudinal research is needed to assess causality between participation in wrong‐site surgery and change in perception of safety.