3. Patient Safety

Surgery can be planned (elective) or surgery may be required as an emergency. However, every patient entering the theatre environment needs to be safe.

This is achieved through the use of protocols, checklists, regular checking and communication prior to each patient having their anaesthetic and starting the operation.

There can be risks to having an anaesthetic and surgery, however the aim is always to minimise these risks through a thorough pre-operative assessment and ongoing assessment of the patient from starting the anaesthetic, having the operation and recovering from both the anaesthetic and the surgery.