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Combining Systems and Teamwork Approaches to Enhance the Effectiveness of Safety Improvement Interventions in Surgery: The Safer Delivery of Surgical Services (S3) Program.

Abstract:
Importance: Patient safety improvement interventions usually address either work systems or team culture. We do not know which is more effective, or whether combining approaches is beneficial.

Objective: To compare improvement in surgical team performance after interventions addressing teamwork culture, work systems, or both.

Design: Suite of 5 identical controlled before–after intervention studies, with preplanned analysis of pooled data for indirect comparisons of strategies.

Setting: Operating theatres in 5 UK hospitals performing elective orthopedic, plastic, or vascular surgery

Participants: All operating theatres staff, including surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists, and others

Interventions: 4-month safety improvement interventions, using teamwork training (TT), systems redesign and standardization (SOP), Lean quality improvement, SOP + TT combination, or Lean + TT combination.

Main Outcomes and Measures: Team technical and nontechnical performance and World Health Organization (WHO) checklist compliance, measured for 3 months before and after intervention using validated scales. Pooled data analysis of before—after change in active and control groups, comparing combined versus single and systems versus teamwork interventions, using 2-way ANOVA.

Results: We studied 453 operations, (255 intervention, 198 control). TT improved nontechnical skills and WHO compliance (P < 0.001), but not technical performance; systems interventions (Lean & SOP, 2 & 3) improved nontechnical skills and technical performance (P < 0.001) but improved WHO compliance less. Combined interventions (4 & 5) improved all performance measures except WHO time-out attempts, whereas single approaches (1 & 2 & 3) improved WHO compliance less (P < 0.001) and failed to improve technical performance.

Conclusions & Relevance: Safety interventions combining teamwork training and systems rationalization are more effective than those adopting either approach alone. This has important implications for safety improvement strategies in hospitals.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1097/SLA.0000000000001589

Authors



Publisher:
Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
Journal:
Annals of Surgery More from this journal
Volume:
265
Issue:
1
Pages:
90-96
Publication date:
2017-01-01
Acceptance date:
2017-01-01
DOI:
EISSN:
1528-1140
ISSN:
0003-4932


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
pubs:668687
UUID:
uuid:08e5462d-094f-419d-9f4e-6645d5319637
Local pid:
pubs:668687
Source identifiers:
668687
Deposit date:
2017-04-25

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