You searched for "safety"

386 results found

Tracheostomy safety project

Tracheostomy care is evolving, with the majority of procedures now performed percutaneously to facilitate weaning from mechanical ventilation in the critically ill. Traditional surgical indications remain, but surgical tracheostomies are increasingly performed in more complex patients. This brings unique challenges...

Safety of outpatient thyroid and parathyroid surgery

This study examined the safety and outcomes of matched groups of patients, undergoing either inpatient thyroid / parathyroid surgery or being discharged within eight hours of surgery. There were 2,362 patients in each group who were matched by a ‘propensity...

Safety recommendations for ENT surgeons during the COVID-19 pandemic

Physicians and other healthcare workers who perform and participate in examinations and procedures within the head and neck region and airway are at particularly high risk of exposure and infection from aerosol and droplet contamination. Authors have developed recommendations to...

Surgery safety checklists

The time-outs were based on pre-flight checklists adopted by airline pilots and were instituted in all accredited hospitals and ambulatory care centres in the United States in 2003. The guidelines originate from general surgery and are not specific for the...

Safeguarding Physician Wellbeing: Using Checklists for Personal, Professional and Psychological Safety

‘Checklists’ in the operating room make for safer surgery, better handovers and improved patient care. Can we apply the principles we have learned since Atul Gawande and the WHO pioneered this approach to surgery to our own wellbeing as doctors,...

Safety factors in use of balloon tuboplasty

Various medications used to restore eustachian tube function have unpredictable results and these are often disappointing. Balloon dilatation of eustachian tube came around 2010 but has not really gained momentum, mainly due to apprehended complications. In this review article, the...

Surgical technology and operating room safety failures: lessons from vascular and general surgery

Background – surgical technology and otolaryngology An estimated 234 million major surgical procedures are performed annually worldwide. This requires the interaction of multidisciplinary teams with varying contributions of surgical technology and therefore makes surgical procedures prone to multiple sources of...

The role of training programmes in protecting patients

ENT trainees are fully registered doctors who have responsibilities to comply with the requirements of Good Medical Practice. This includes ensuring that they put the interests of their patients at the heart of their practice. This duty is complementary to...

Radiosurgery for large vestibular schwannomas

The authors conducted a retrospective study of patients with large Koos grade 4 vestibular schwannomas undergoing gamma knife radiosurgery. A total of 68 patients with tumour size greater than 4 cm3 with baseline serviceable 60% hearing who received 12 Gray...

Changing behaviour with a human factors approach

The Francis Report (2013) identified multiple problems relating to the safety culture of Stafford Hospital in the period 2005 – 2009, as well as serious failings in the supervisory and regulatory systems of the NHS. Particular criticism was directed at...

An overview of human factors in ENT and anaesthesia

James Bates and Chris Frerk are both passionate about how human factors science can improve safety in healthcare and have co-authored this article describing how communication, ergonomics and other non-technical skills are making operating theatres safer. There is no doubt...

Monitored safe medical practice: minimising patient harm will reduce medical negligence bill for the NHS

Patrick Bradley ruminates on a celebrated career in ENT head and neck surgery and suggests that increasing the possibility of positive outcomes to contemporary patient safety initiatives by the NHS must involve efforts to develop an enthusiastic contented workforce willing...