Initiatives of the DGAV for patient safety

Patient safety is a much-discussed topic, and the Aktionsbündnis "Patientensicherheit e.V." [coalition for patient safety] defines patient safety as the absence of adverse events, whereby "adverse event" refers to the treatment rather than to the disease.

Patient safety is a topic being addressed not only in Germany, but also internationally. The WHO has launched an initiative for patient safety and has also developed a surgical safety checklist. 

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chirurgie has drawn attention to the importance of the topic in its notices repeatedly, and the American College of Surgeons with more than 80,000 members recommends for preventing avoidable errors.

Against the background of the Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetzes) and the increasing number of operations being performed directly on the day of admittance, more and more operations are being performed by surgeons who have not been able to properly preoperatively examine or speak with the patients.

Therefore, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Allgemein- und Viszeralchirurgie urgently advises you to introduce the checklist in your department. In the case of an occurrence of an adverse event, this list can also help contribute to legal discharge. 

The German version of the checklist is available here and can naturally be adapted to the needs of your hospital.