Patient safety in theatre teams—a practical approach to human factors

This Royal College of Surgeons course is multiprofessional and is aimed at theatre teams that already work together. Those attending therefore include consultant surgeons and anaesthetists, theatre nurses, and operating department assistants. Three theatre teams of four participants were on the course we attended. The course cost £2000 for the four participants, excluding accommodation, travel, and a course dinner. Evidence is mounting that failures in non-technical skills such as leadership, communication, situation awareness, and decision making are contributing to adverse events during surgery. This, in conjunction with the introduction to our institution of the World Health Organization theatre checklist, made us keen to explore these issues further. This course is the only one currently available that …