Safety skills training for surgeons: A half-day educational programme improves knowledge, attitudes and awareness of patient safety

Abstract

Introduction Education and training of clinicians in patient safety is necessary to achieve sustainable improvements in this domain. Despite its inherently risky nature, such training is minimal in surgery. Objective: To study the effects of a safety skills training programme on surgical residents' knowledge, attitudes and awareness of patient safety. Methods A half-day training programme incorporating safety-awareness skills, safety-analysis skills and safety-improvement skills was delivered to surgical residents from 19 hospitals in London, UK. Participants were assessed in terms of their safety knowledge (using MCQs) and attitudes to safety (using a validated questionnaire; scale 1 to 5) before and after training (analysed quantitatively using t-tests). A longer term follow-up was conducted by participants carrying out ethnographic observations of safety events in their own workplace pre and post-training(analyzed using standardised qualitative emergent theme identification). Results 26 (out of total 48 residents across the 19 hospitals) attended the training programme. Knowledge of patient safety significantly improved after the course (Mean 70.59% vs Mean 45.26%, p Conclusions Safety skills training with positive educational outcomes can be effectively delivered in a half day. Such a course may allow patient safety to be integrated into any curriculum, thereby training the next generation of surgeons to maintain the patient safety momentum.