Ian Civil. Photo / Supplied
Leading surgeon Ian Civil has learned exactly what kinds of mistakes can be avoided by using a simple, standard - even life-saving - checklist.
Auckland City Hospital's director of surgery, he reads its reports on near misses in the operating theatre. He has found the most common is the intention
to operate on the wrong part of a patient's body, including planning surgery on the wrong leg.
The checklist, based on the World Health Organisation's operating theatre check-sheet, has also helped him to avoid going astray when working in his specialty of vascular surgery.
"I was operating on the right leg, doing a bypass on the right patient," he recalls, "but in my mind I had a very clear idea of what the vascular anatomy was and where the vessels were that I thought I was going to do the bypass.
"In fact, when, as part of the checklist, the appropriate radiology was put up on the screen, I said no, that must be some other patient because it's not like that, and they pointed out to me that yes, that was actually the right patient."
