Pilot evaluation of the "WHO Surgical Safety Checklist"
Hospitals in eight cities around the globe have successfully demonstrated that the use of a simple surgical checklist, developed by WHO, during major operations can lower the incidence of surgery-related deaths and complications by one third.
Analysis shows that the rate of major complications following surgery fell from 11% in the baseline period to 7% after introduction of the checklist, a reduction of one third. Inpatient deaths following major operations fell by more than 40% (from 1.5% to 0.8%).