Operating theatre lists--accidents waiting to happen?

Each year the Medical Defence Societies report cases where litigation has arisen due to errors in operating theatres. Incorrect details on operating lists increase the risk of such errors. The Medical Defence Societies, in conjunction with the nursing profession, have produced recommendations to reduce the risks of errors in operating theatres (1). The patient's full name and hospital number should be checked against the theatre list by the receiving nurse. Abbreviations should be avoided and operating lists should be altered as little as possible and never by telephone. Current practice in our hospital is that operating lists are typed by the consultant's secretary, using information drawn from handwritten lists submitted by junior doctors or from admission lists. Currently the final operating list is not routinely double-checked. The possibility that such a system could lead to potentially dangerous errors prompted an audit of operating lists for a one-month period, including all specialties at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield. The aim was to measure the incidence of errors, omissions and alterations in completed operating lists.