Surgical safety checklists in UK veterinary practice: Current implementation and attitudes towards their use

Surgical safety checklist (SSC) use benefits veterinary patients, but endorsement and implementation are essential for these benefits to be observed.

A cross-sectional survey assessed UK veterinary professionals' attitudes towards and usage of SSCs and identified factors associated with poorer attitude or failure to use SSCs.

Of 513 respondents, 70% used SSCs. Of these, 87.1% used SSCs for every surgical procedure, 19.1% adapted SSCs for different procedures and 61.1% had a standard operating procedure detailing how to use SSCs. Attitudes towards SSC use were favourable, with increased positive attitude associated with employing at least one registered veterinary nurse with a post-qualifying qualification (p < 0.001), current SSC use (p < 0.001), undertaking self-directed reading (p = 0.033) or completing SSC-relevant post-qualification continuing professional development (p = 0.005). Factors associated with veterinary practices not using SSCs included Practice Standards Scheme (PSS) non-membership (odds ratio [OR] 2.0, 1.1-3.4), no RCVS hospital status (OR 1.9, 1.1-3.5) or being a mixed first-opinion veterinary practice (OR 2.4, 1.2-5.0).

Study limitations include sampling methodology and non-validated attitudinal scale usage.

Most respondents used SSCs. Familiarity, education and the RCVS PSS were associated with improved uptake and attitudes, but mixed practice was associated with reduced usage.