Bands may reduce surgical errors

The bands are signed by both patient and doctors

A Derby NHS trust is using a simple solution to ensure operations are error-free.

Derby hospitals are using a "procedure band" signed by both patient and surgeon which contains information about the location of surgery.

The band is attached to the wrist or ankle after being signed by the patient and two doctors.

Hospital officials hope the band will significantly reduce the risk of the wrong procedures being carried out.

"The system focuses on the patient being on the table and the surgeon looking at the band to see exactly where the operation is taking place," a hospital spokesperson said.

Before we introduced this we had it on a checklist but this in effect moves the checklist to an armband Gill Ogden, clinical risk manager

Gill Ogden, clinical risk manager at Derby Hospitals Foundation Trust, said: "They look similar to an ID tag with the date of birth but they have details of the operation, the date and patient information.

"In the surgery room, both surgeon and anaesthetist will discuss the operation with the patient before it begins and the doctor signs the band again."

She said there was also a "stop moment" when all staff checked the band before it was taken off and attached to the patient's care plan.

"Before we introduced this we had it on a checklist but this in effect moves the checklist to an armband," she said.

She said Health Minister Lord Hunt had urged the NHS to consider the technology of wristbands after trials showed they could cut the number of medical mistakes.

Operations in which doctors operated on patients' wrong body parts rose by a half between 2003 and 2006, according to compensation claims figures from the NHS Litigation Authority.

Among the mistakes were cases of the wrong leg and hips being operated on.